Nigel Farage and Robert Jenrick have become embroiled in an online clash over migrant hotels. The Reform UK leader branded the Shadow Justice Secretary as a "fraud" in a video posted on X for joining protesters outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex.
The Clacton MP included a clip of the former immigration minister from 2022 when he spoke about procuring more hotels in a Sky News interview. But Mr Jenrick hit back and insisted he made the comments because the Manston migrant processing was at more than double its capacity and had just been firebombed amid major tensions.
In his video, Mr Farage said: "You might have seen pictures of Robert Jenrick turning up outside The Bell hotel, the migrant hotel, in Epping in Essex.
"What he's saying is I'm on your side, I'm with you, the people, what's going on is a disgrace. Well when he was immigration minister just a couple of years back it was very, very different."
The video then shows a clip of Mr Jenrick saying: "We have procured more hotels very rapidly and more are coming on board literally every day. More hotels have been coming online almost every month throughout the whole of this year.
"Suella Braverman and her predecessor Priti Patel were procuring more hotels. What I have done in my short tenure is ramp that up even more."
Mr Farage went on: "That was Robert Jenrick and under him as immigration minister we got up to 56,000 who crossed the Channel by boat living in hotels.
"He put more people in hotels than even this Labour Government. And here we are three years later he turns up and says I'm on your side. My advice to you would be to say this man is a fraud, he's not to be trusted and certainly his party aren't either."
But the Tory MP replied: "If I knew standing with the people of Epping on Sunday was going to rattle you so much, I’d have offered you a lift! But seriously, the country’s in a mess and you’re wasting time pushing Zia’s doctored videos?
"This interview (1st Nov ‘22) is about the Manston migrant holding centre collapsing. It was 3x over capacity and there’d just been a firebomb. I was reassuring people it wasn’t going to collapse. I was 7 days into the job.
"What was I saying about hotels then? 'It is essential that we exit the hotels altogether' (7th Nov ‘22).
"I then spent the year fighting with Suella Braverman to override human rights conventions so we could detain and deport all illegal migrants."
The former Conservative leadership contender urged Mr Farage to "focus on Starmer and the country, instead of pushing false and petty crap".
He added: "The big thing now? Getting all patriotic councils to follow Epping’s lead and pursue injunctions.
"If any council - Conservative, Reform, whoever - wants any legal help, please get in touch with my office. Likewise any lawyer who believes in borders and wants to help pro bono."
It comes after Epping Forest District Council won a legal bid to stop migrants being housed at The Bell hotel. Ministers are now bracing for further legal challenges from local authorities across the country.
