Tony Priestley Restore Britain

I want to address an allegation directly, because Reform politicians seem determined to spread the idea that I am somehow working in coordination with the Conservative Party and Kemi Badenoch. Yes, I was a member of the Conservative Party. In 1993. My children have since been born and grown up. It was more than thirty years ago. Literally, a lifetime ago. Many of the Reform leadership certainly can’t say the same. Yes, I've met Kemi Badenoch. I speak to her occasionally. I like her personally. We have worked together in Parliament. She spoke positively about our rape gang inquiry, and I thanked her for it. Numerous Conservative MPs have supported my parliamentary work, including our inquiry. Esther McVey. Nick Timothy. Jack Rankin. Peter Bedford. I could go on. I am not going to apologise for that. I will work with anyone in Parliament who is prepared to help deliver meaningful change. We have achieved results by doing precisely that. Does that mean I forgive the Conservatives for what they did to Britain between 2010 and 2024? Absolutely not. It was a betrayal. I have literally established a national political party to fight them at the ballot box. I am delighted when we beat them, which is a growing amount. All that should be a fairly substantial clue… But opposing a political party does not require you to behave like a petulant child towards every single person associated with it. Conservative MPs believed I would do a good job on the Public Accounts Committee. I accepted the opportunity to scrutinise government spending and fight for British taxpayers. Again, absolutely no apologies. I think we have delivered results. Now let's compare that with Reform. Reform tried to have me imprisoned over false allegations. I would be in prison today if they had their way. Despite everything, I have repeatedly attempted to work with Reform MPs in Parliament. I have invited them to support initiatives, collaborate on important issues and help deliver results. Time and again, those invitations have been ignored. My emails don’t even get a reply. I happily sign their motions and support their efforts, I did earlier this week. The feeling is not mutual. They complain. They moan. They attack. They endlessly manufacture personal grievances. But ask them to put their animosities aside and actually achieve something together? Suddenly, it's total silence. I've received more constructive support in Parliament from Labour MPs than from Reform. Think about that. It is grievance politics at its most pathetic. Negative, unproductive and deeply unprofessional. My position is incredibly straightforward. At elections, we are opponents. In Parliament, we have a responsibility to get things done. I believe that is what our constituents want us to do. Maybe I’m wrong, but I think not. Reform claim we stand in more local council Reform seats than anyone else. Yes, because so many more Reform councillors resign in disgrace than any other party. We are moving towards standing in 100% of local council by-elections. We’ve stood in Reform seats, Labour seats, Tory seats. Everywhere and anywhere. I intend to fight both Reform and the Conservatives for every vote. I want Restore Britain to win over millions of people who previously voted for those parties. But that does not mean I have to insult everyone I disagree with, refuse to speak to political opponents or sabotage decent initiatives because somebody else might receive a little credit. I was elected to represent my constituents, not to participate in an endless Westminster playground feud. Do I like Kemi Badenoch and some other Conservative MPs personally? Yes. Will I work with them when it benefits the British people? Yes. Do I fundamentally oppose the Conservative Party's record and want Restore Britain to defeat them electorally? Yes. Their 14 years of power was an utter betrayal, and is largely responsible for the social, economic and demographic vandalism we have endured. All three things can be true. Any serious adult should be capable of understanding that. It is not difficult to comprehend. I will work with Conservatives. I will work with Labour. I will work with Reform, if they ever decide to behave constructively. Reform's increasingly nasty, brash and personally unpleasant approach to politics says far more about them than it does about me. It’s just downright rude. They seem to believe that refusing to work with anyone is a demonstration of strength. In my view, it’s a weakness that erodes our politics and fails our constituents. I have said it again and again. I will work with anyone in parliament to deliver for the British people. And I make no apologies for doing so.

The incoming foreign wave of low-skilled mass settlement and citizenship must be reversed. Restore Britain is today making these commitments to the British people. - We will abolish Indefinite Leave to Remain entirely. No further ILR grants will be permitted. - Revoke all existing ILR grants. A Restore Britain Parliament will legislate to terminate existing ILR permissions and, where appropriate, replace them with a system of time-limited visas, subject to the strict criteria contained in our immigration Red List. Those who don't meet that standard will leave. As previously stated, immigration from the third world into Britain will end. - Entirely end the routine pathway from temporary visas to citizenship - living or working in Britain will no longer provide a route to naturalisation. - Cancel naturalisation grants made from today onwards. We will introduce retrospective legislation to revoke every citizenship granted, as of today, under the existing immigration system. Put simply - the current naturalisation system has been subject to such widespread abuse and fraud, we no longer recognise it as legitimate. Following this, those individuals will again be subject to our Red List. - Going further than that, Restore Britain will create a dedicated body to review naturalisation grants going back decades, audit original applications, investigate fraudulent citizenship awards, assess the contribution made to our country and pursue deprivation wherever appropriate grounds are established. - There will be one exception to the proposed citizenship cancellation policy - citizenship obtained through marriage to a British citizen who was born in Britain with at least one parent also born in our country. - And crucially - we will enforce immigration departures. Where individuals have no lawful right to remain under the replacement system, departure and removal requirements will be enforced. Ending ILR is not enough. It will be too late - the consequence of ILR is citizenship, permanent citizenship. The staggering betrayal of the last Conservative Government must be undone. The sheer scale of numbers is impossible to fully comprehend. They will stay, they will claim benefits, they will live in social housing. They will be naturalised. They will get a passport. They will become ‘British’. Most importantly - they will vote. It will cost us hundreds of billions. It will corrode our democracy. It will be the final end for our high-trust society. It cannot be allowed to happen. We will abolish ILR, end permanent settlement by default, and reverse the incoming wave of mass naturalisations. A Restore Britain Government will undo the damage. Not tolerate it, or manage it, or control it. Undo it.

If we want our country back, then we're going to have to fight for it. Because nobody else is coming to save us. Join Restore Britain. restorebritain.org.uk/join_u…