The Conservative Party does not need Nigel Farage and can win the coming general election without him, Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden has said.
He told GB News: “I don't think the Conservative Party needs Nigel Farage to win the next election.
“Nigel Farage has been supporting UKIP for many years. If he wishes to join the Conservative Party, that's a matter for him.
“These polls go up and down. In the end, there's only two people that can be Prime Minister after the next election, Rishi Sunak or Keir Starmer, and we will be making vigorously the case for Rishi Sunak to be our Prime Minister with a majority Conservative government.”
Asked by Camilla Tominey about the UK’s economic prospects, he said: “If you look at the autumn statement, if you look at the measures we announced, the OBR themselves acknowledged that it will add an extra half percent to growth.
“If you look at…2025 to 2028, the next period, it sees us growing faster than France, Germany, and many other countries. But of course, there is more to do.
“And that's why for example, we're focusing on business investment. And thanks to the full deduction of expenses, we're seeing greater business investment in this country, and even a country like the United States.
“What I'm saying really is that the measures that the Prime Minister and Chancellor announced are putting the building blocks in place to deal with the growth challenge, which I don't doubt has been a big problem.”
On the Rwanda legislation, he said: “I’m confident that the Prime Minister has looked at this very carefully and has got the best possible measures, but if there are ways of improving it further, just as with any piece of legislation, we’ll work with backbench Members of Parliament, including Conservatives.
“If we can make it even better, of course, we'll do that.”
