Nigel Farage blasted Labour for “panic lies” over Reform UK in a speech at a rally tonight. The Reform UK leader warned that the establishment is “getting very scared” of his insurgent party ahead of the local elections on May 1.

He told the audience at the Kent event: “I can tell that the establishment is getting very scared of Reform UK. All we’re getting now from Labour are literally panic lies.”

The Clacton MP highlighted how Sir Keir Starmer‘s party has recently gone on the offensive against him over NHS funding.

Mr Farage added: “I’ve always said I wanted the NHS to be free at the point of delivery but I believe we waste far too much money through bureaucracy, middle management, it’s poorly managed.

“Who of us doesn’t recognise that frankly the NHS that we all grew up with doesn’t exist any more.

“You cannot get a GP appointment, waiting times are shocking, and yet we funnel in more and more money.”

Labour last Friday launched a series of attack ads against Mr Farage pointing to previous comments he has made about the NHS.

One advert used comments from 2012 in which the arch-Brexiteer said: “I think we are going to have to move to an insurance-based system of health care.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said not everyone in the UK can afford to pay for their healthcare like “Mr Moneybags” in a swipe at Mr Farage.

Mr Streeting saidsaid: “He can afford the premiums, he can afford the upfront costs, but not everyone in this country is like Mr Moneybags, and the great thing about the NHS is that it is publicly funded through fair taxation – public service free at the point of use.”

Speaking to the BBC, Mr Farage said people should have health insurance “only if they can afford it” and suggested that Health Secretary Wes Streeting had been “saying very similar things” about funding the NHS.