Priti Patel has sparked a fresh war of words with Nigel Farage after branding Reform UK a “pop-up act”.
The shadow foreign secretary hit out as the Tories vie with their right-wing rivals for Donald Trump’s approval.
Both Patel and Farage are in Washington DC ahead of Trump’s inauguration as US president for the second time on Monday.
Farage has a personal friendship with Trump, but Patel insisted the Conservatives’ longstanding links with the Republican Party were more important.
On Sky News this morning, presenter Trevor Phillips asked her: “Nigel Farage ... seems to be a favourite down in Mar-a-Lago. Are you going to have to make peace with Nigel Farage in order to get a hearing in the White House?”
But the senior Tory told him: “I just don’t think that’s a relevant point. At the end of the day, the Conservative Party and the Republican Party - they’re our sister party.
“We have enduring, longstanding ties with the Republican Party. Our two parties, in government and out of government, have worked closely together over decades.
“In the past, two governments ending the Cold War, bringing economic prosperity around the world as well as our two countries.
“We’re not a pop-up act in the way in which they are, and their presence is here right now. Our two parties are knitted together in the very principles of conservatism and our DNA on values and beliefs is incredibly strong.”
A Reform UK spokesman said: “The Tories have failed and deceived British people for too long. The Tory band is completely broken.
“Whilst the Tories complain from the sidelines, Reform UK are fully focussed on May and reconstituting the centre right of British politics. The Tories broke Britain, Reform will fix it.”