Tories should consider Reform coalition if they cannot win next election - former MP

Daniel Kawczynski, who was defeated by Labour's Julia Buckley in last year's General Election, had served the town for 19 years.

His party's heavy loss coincided with an increase in votes for the Nigel Farage-led Reform, which secured five MPs out of 650.

Now Mr Kawczynski, an ardent Brexiteer, has voiced fears over future attempts to return the UK to the EU.

He said that Right Wing parties would need to work together to prevent potential attempts to reverse Brexit - while defending the decision to leave.

Despite Mr Kawczynski's concerns about the issue, Keir Starmer, rejected those suggestions shortly after becoming Prime Minister last year when he said he wanted to re-set relations with Europe, but added: "That does not mean reversing Brexit or re-entering the single market or the customs union."

Speaking about the way forward for the Conservative Party Mr Kawczynski said: "The list of shared beliefs between Reform and Conservatives is extensive, especially as both sides can already see the damage Starmer is causing to our nation.

"Four more years of Starmer will hopefully make both sides more willing to engage in open, frank, and mutually respectful dialogue.

"My friend, Lee Anderson, MP, addressed my local Conservative Party Association in Shrewsbury when he was still a Conservative MP.

"The event was sold out, with a waiting list for cancellations, and he was one of the most popular speakers we have had, according to the feedback I received.

"Losing him was a significant blow to our party.

"I hope we Conservatives win a majority at the next election, but, if we fall short by 30 or 40 seats, we will need to broker a coalition with Reform.

"By then, I hope we will have established a modus operandi to communicate, as right-of-centre parties have done in the past in other nations.

"Insulting Reform, as Cameron did, was disastrous, and ignoring them is not working either.

"Let us have strong and robust debates, but let us remember who the real opponent is: a second Starmer government.

"A second Starmer government, either alone or in a coalition with the Lib Dems, Greens, SNP, and others, would likely start the process of reintegrating the UK into the failing EU.

"This should be a wake-up call for those of us on the right of centre in politics.

"While we will maintain our separate parties and policies, I am calling for dialogue and courtesy as we jointly fight against today’s Socialist government."

Mr Kawczynski also defended the country's performance since leaving the EU - and again criticised his former party leader, David Cameron, over his approach to Brexiteers - saying it is something he could not forgive.

He said: "David Cameron's decision to label UKIP supporters as ‘fruitcakes’ was a significant misstep.

"This insult to millions of people who supported UKIP in various European and General Elections is something I will never forget nor forgive.

"Without their support, we would never have had a referendum on this issue, allowing us to become a truly independent sovereign nation for the first time in my lifetime."

He added: "In 1980, the EEC, which was half the size it is today, represented 25 per cent of the world’s economy. Today, that figure is 15 per cent and declining annually. The only continent projected to grow economically slower than the EU over the next 30 years is Antarctica.

"Thanks to Brexit, we have been invited as the sole European country to join the world’s largest trading bloc, the CPTPP.

"This major bloc includes some of the fastest-growing economies in the world, such as Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam.

"What are the long-term consequences for Britain being the sole European country in a trading bloc where 99 per cent of goods are now traded tariff-free? The Far East has hundreds of millions of middle-class consumers emerging every year, eager for high-quality British goods and services.

"As one of the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoys for four years, I witnessed at first hand the great strength of the British brand overseas, and our unique reputation for quality and after-sales service.

"The Remainers predicted that our exports would collapse if we voted to leave the EU. In fact, since Brexit, the opposite has happened: we have moved from being the seventh-largest global exporter to the fourth! The EU claimed we were too small to negotiate our own trade agreements, but we have successfully negotiated nearly 100, all of which are commensurate with, or slightly better than, those we had through the EU, an entity at least five times our size.

"We now have an opportunity to transform the Commonwealth into something more meaningful, by reducing tariffs for the 56 Commonwealth countries, which collectively represent one-third of the world’s population. These countries, such as Nigeria, which I hope to visit this year, also have some of the fastest-growing economies.

"These are just a fraction of the opportunities we now have as an independent sovereign nation, thanks largely to the people who voted for UKIP. As Conservatives, we should recognize that many people in today’s Reform Party share our views on the failings of the EU and on the importance of nurturing our most crucial alliance with the USA. We agree that immigration, both legal and illegal,  must be reduced, and we must stand up to the excessive demands of Trade Unions and cut the welfare bill, which currently stands at a staggering £258 billion."