Another poll shows Reform support at new high level with the Tories
Support for Reform hit a new high today as a new poll put the party level with the Tories - as leader Nigel Farage unveiled an election manifesto featuring eyewatering spending plans.
Reform are up a point with Redfield & Wilton Strategies tonight, alongside the Tories on 18 per cent a full 25 points behind Labour.
It is the latest poll to show Reform either level or above the Conservatives and came as Mr Farage set out its election plans.
He claimed he would move to 'stop the boats' within 100 days as he launched Reform's 'contract' with voters.
The former MEP complained that the country was 'broken' as he unveiled the election prospectus - conceding at the same time that he will never be able to implement it.
The document includes commitments to slash £50billion off public spending, leave the European Court of Human Rights, and ban all 'non-essential' immigration. It suggests that moves to 'stop the boats' - including sending migrants back to France - would start within 100 days.
Along with stripping the Bank of England of key powers, those policies are meant to fund an extraordinary £140billion splurge, largely on tax cuts, the NHS and defence spending.
However, the respected IFS think-tank said the plans 'do not add up' - with tax cuts reducing revenue by more than the party claims, and savings not generating as much revenue.
At the same time today Rishi Sunak was forced to step in and insist the Tories can still win the election - after one of his senior ministers all-but conceded on a live round of interviews.
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps admitted that the Tories are set to lose the election after a huge poll showed he could be among a swathe of high-profile casualties.
The Defence Secretary said he was a 'realist' about the party's prospects as he renewed pleas for voters not to gift Labour a 'supermajority'.
But the PM slapped down Mr Shapps on a visit to a gas rig in the North Sea, insisting the party is 'on the right track'.
'There's still two-and-a-half weeks to go in this election, I'm fighting hard for every vote because I believe we can win,' he told reporters.
The Prime Minister tried to inject optimism into the Tory campaign today on his return to the fray following the G7 meeting in Italy.
Grant Shapps said he was a 'realist' about Tory prospects as he renewed pleas for voters not to gift Labour a 'supermajority'.
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