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Good evening, Michelle. With me now is the latest Reform UK MP, Soella Braveman, the eighth one
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Soella Braveman, thank you for joining us tonight on Jubes & Co on GB News
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How are you feeling? I feel relieved. I feel excited. I feel very honoured and lucky to be part of this mission in which I have so much faith
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It's a big jump for you, three decades as a Conservative MP. Any feedback from the Tory Chief Whip yet
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No, actually. Listen, I'm, you know, to be honest, I don't really care so much about what the Conservative Party says about me, thinks about me, does to me
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It's a very sad situation. It's in free fall. Personally, a lot of the people there I like. I wish them well
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And, you know, I'm now with a party that is much more aligned with my values, leaving the East HR credible on patriotism
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strong borders, low taxation and really standing up for British people. I want to say that attack on your mental health was below the belt Why do they say that did he say that You would mean listen I come to be used to vicious attacks from Conservative colleagues It water of a duck back for me I think it says more
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about them than it does about me, to be honest. And no plans for a by-election jumping ship
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No. I mean, there's been hundreds of defections now at local level, many at national level. And
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At the end of the day, I've actually been true and consistent in my beliefs
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People know what they're getting, and in many ways, they're probably going to get a much more freer speaking local MP
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than they had as a Conservative. Zia Yusuf was critical of you over the Afghan data leak last July
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I mean, he's critical of a lot of Conservatives. Will you get on well with him? Listen, Zia is a huge talent in Reform UK
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He's a successful businessman, and he's brought a huge amount of logistical and policy and strategic nows
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And I'm really looking forward to working with him. How many more Tories might come? Are you the last one before the George Bridge goes up
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I don't think I'm going to be the last one. Who else is coming? I don't know, but I know there are a lot of unhappy Conservative MPs
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really searching their souls right now It a big thing to do and I think it very difficult to grapple with this tension that many Conservative MPs are finding themselves with
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Party versus country. And that is not an easy reconciliation. The way I think it should be resolved is by coming to Reform UK
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to all of those right-wingers, those people who have been sound on borders, on Brexit, on policing, on law and order, on wanting to tackle Islamism
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who agree with me on a lot of the things that I've been talking about. And I know there are some. Please
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Well, how many more are thinking about it right now? It's very hard for me to say
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I mean, there's a handful of people who share my views. But, yeah, there's a lot of low morale
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and a lot of fear within the Conservative Party right now. And what do you want from the Forum UK
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What job has Nigel Farrow promised you? No job has been promised. I am not here really for jobs
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I am here to be part of a mission, put my shoulder to the wheel and help in any way that I can
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The big theme here at this press conference is getting the right to unite. That's what
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Nigel Farrell says. Do you think that that can happen? Can you unite with the Tory party
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before the election? Not with the Conservative Party as it is right now but basically the right is now represented by Reform UK That is the right of British politics The Conservative Party is depleted and diminished and it also shifting to the left as I said in my remarks
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The right of the Conservative Party no longer exists in any meaningful sense
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And it's now a centrist, Lib Dem-lite, Social Democrat Party, really. It's good at performative conservatism
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but it's great beneath the surface and it's quite a left-leaning party
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And your message is finally to your local voters. They might be disappointed
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They fought for you against that Labour last July, in July 24
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You won, but now you've left them in the lurch. Well, I'm very heartened by the wave of positive messages
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I've got from local people just today. I've been inundated with people begging me to join reform
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at the local level for over a year now. And so I do acknowledge that there will be some local conservatives
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who will be sad and disappointed. We've worked together, in some cases, for over a decade
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And we've become like a family. And I want them to know this is not about them
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This is not about them. This is about the National Party being totally at odds
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with what true Conservative values are. And, you know, if they agree with me, if they support me