Rishi Sunak has taken a double-swipe at Nigel Farage after he claimed the Prime Minister does not understand „our culture“.
The Reform UK leader said Mr Sunak does not „care“ about UK history in an attack over his decision to leave D-Day commemoration events early last week.
Mr Farage has insisted that he was referring to Mr Sunak’s “class” rather than his heritage as the Southampton-born son of first-generation immigrants.
But Mr Sunak blasted the antics as not “good for our politics or indeed our country“.
And the Prime Minister warned that voting for the arch-Brexiteer would result in Sir Keir Starmer entering No 10.
Speaking to the BBC as part of its Panorama interviews with Nick Robinson, Mr Sunak said: At the end of the day on July 5th there is only going to be one person that’s Prime Minister and it’s Keir Starmer or myself.
“A vote for anyone who is not a Conservative candidate is just making it more likely that Keir Starmer is that person.”
Mr Sunak had earlier told reporters during an election campaign visit in West Sussex that Mr Farage’s remarks were not good for Britain.
He said: „I’m not going to get involved in that because I don’t think it’s good for our politics or indeed our country.“
Mr Farage has said support for Reform UK is nearing an electoral tipping point for the Tories.
He warned that Conservative candidates were “slowly but surely waking up and smelling the coffee” about the threat his party would pose in the general election on July 4.
“They are realising that many of their longest-term and — as they would have seen it — most loyal supporters say ‘enough is enough’,” Mr Farage said during a press conference.
He also reiterated his criticism of Mr Sunak’s decision to leave D-Day commemorations early, saying it had gone down “very badly” with voters.
“He didn’t understand what it meant to people,” Mr Farage added.
“This is your classic Winchester, Oxford, Goldman Sachs . . . Does he even meet ordinary people? I doubt it.
“He doesn’t understand where the centre of gravity of people’s hearts are in this country.”
Mr Sunak said he did not consider resigning as Prime Minister before polling day, despite facing a backlash over his D-Day decision.
He apologised on Friday for not attending the full event to mark the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings the previous day.
The decision was criticised by opposition parties, as well as some Conservatives, with Cabinet minister Penny Mordaunt saying it was „completely wrong“ and Mr Sunak had „rightly apologised“.
In his first interview since Friday’s apology, during a campaign visit in Horsham, West Sussex, the PM was asked if he had considered resigning.
“No, of course not. I’m energised about the vision we’re putting forward for the country,“ he said.
„This campaign is not even half way through yet. I’m finding enormous support for the policies that we’re putting on the table.“
He added: „The reality is I’m not going to stop going, I’m not going to stop fighting for people’s votes, I’m not going to stop fighting for the future of our country.“
In his Panorama interview Mr Sunak also acknowledged it has become harder for people to own their first home under the Conservatives.
He said: “It has got harder and I want to make sure that it’s easier and what we will do is not just build homes in the right places and do that in a way that is sensitive to local communities, but make sure that we support young people in to great jobs so they can save for that deposit.
“I’m going to go back to tax, because it is important.”