Jenrick brands Badenoch a “fantasist” over Rome meeting dispute
Reform UK MP Robert Jenrick has accused the Conservative leader of fabricating details of her meeting with Giorgia Meloni, citing the party’s shifting narrative on whether the Italian prime minister urged her to resist a cross-party deal.
Robert Jenrick has accused Kemi Badenoch of telling “a pack of lies” regarding the content of her meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Rome. The Reform UK MP launched the personal attack as he sought to apply pressure on his former boss amid confusion over whether Meloni had advised Badenoch to “be her own woman” and avoid a deal with Reform UK.
The dispute emerged after The Times initially reported that Meloni had urged Badenoch to resist an alliance with Jenrick’s party. The specific claim was subsequently removed from the report, and a Conservative spokesperson denied that the party had suggested the Italian leader made such comments. Jenrick, who defected to Reform UK earlier this year after losing the leadership contest to Badenoch, described the Conservative leader as a “fantasist” who tends to “make up” narratives.
In a reference to Badenoch’s previously controversial claim of receiving a degree offer from Stanford University at age 16, Jenrick stated: “It was obviously very, very embarrassing for Kemi Badenoch. My advice, if you go and visit a foreign leader, is don’t make up a pack of lies about what they say.” Badenoch met Meloni for an hour in a cafe in Rome on Monday morning and later praised the handling of the Italian economy on social media.
A spokesperson for Badenoch rejected the accusations, stating that Reform was “just making things up” and “peddling conspiracy theories to distract [people]”. The spokesperson pointed to the £5m gift recently received by Reform leader Nigel Farage from Thailand-based businessman Christopher Harborne as a counterpoint to the party’s credibility claims.
Jenrick made the remarks while announcing a series of policy proposals in London. The Reform UK MP outlined plans to scrap Britain’s existing data protection laws, replace GDPR with a “light-touch” privacy model based on New Zealand, and abolish the 2035 zero-emission vehicle mandate. He also proposed widening tax-relief schemes for small business investors and offering a £30 tax credit to individuals who wait more than 30 minutes on calls to HMRC.
The timing of the dispute coincides with fresh allegations in a new book by Anthony Seldon, which claims Badenoch plotted with cabinet ministers to remove Rishi Sunak as Prime Minister months before the general election. Labour has also entered the fray, with a spokesperson criticising Jenrick for being unable to specify which data safeguards would be scrapped under the proposed privacy reforms.
