Zia Yusuf hits back at Keir Starmer after speech slamming Nigel Farage: 'Absolutely staggering!'

"In opposition we said [Liz Truss] would crash the economy and leave you to pick up the bill," the Prime Minister said.

"We were right. And we were elected to fix that mess. Now in government, we are once again fighting the same fantasy – this time from Farage."

Labelling Farage as "Liz Truss 2.0", Starmer said the Reform leader was making "the exact same bet" as the former Conservative PM, "that you can spend tens of billions on tax cuts without a proper way of paying for it."

In a furious response on GB News, Yusuf said: "It is absolute panic, panic stations at Labour. They've seen they're trailing by eight points in the latest YouGov poll, absolutely staggering, and a huge testament to our support and grassroots across the country.

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"So he's panicked and decided he needed to host this press conference. It's gone extremely badly for him, in no small part because he has no answer to the questions he's being posed."

He added: "Labour were the ones who, in their manifesto last June, said they were going to increase spending by £10billion in their first budget.

"Three months later, they increased spending by £60bn, according to the IFS. That delta alone would be enough to eliminate income tax below £20,000, one of our flagship policies.

"The reality is, when it comes to the Tories for 14 years and now Labour, there's seemingly infinite money for foreign citizens, free accommodation in asylum hotels, endless boats crossing the Channel, endless foreign aid.

"When it comes to British citizens, British pensioners for example, there's no money left."

Discussing Nigel's trip to the US, Yusuf explained: "Nigel is in Vegas for the Bitcoin conference, making a really important announcement.

"Which will have a lot more to talk about around economic policy, around making the UK a crypto leader and ensuring our economy is fit for the digital age.

"So make no mistake, Nigel is out there working and making some important announcements."

Reform made significant gains in May's local elections, winning one by-election and two mayoral races, as well as gaining 677 new councillors at the expense of both Labour and the Conservatives.

Yusuf said polls suggested the public saw Reform as a "viable alternative", with the party cementing itself as a prime challenger to Britain's traditional main parties.