LONDON – The deputy leader of Reform UK has claimed King Charles was “unwise” to refer to borders in a key speech during French President Emmanuel Macron’s state visit to the U.K. this week. 

Speaking to Anne McElvoy for POLITICO’s Westminster Insider summer interview podcast, Richard Tice said “the late Queen wouldn’t have included any of that language about the boats. I think she would’ve been much more careful. I presume that it’s different speech writers, but I just don’t think that she would’ve ended up in that pickle.” 

Tice also speculated that the monarch may not have read the speech before he delivered it. “I wonder whether he fell into the trap that Keir Starmer fell into by admitting that he didn’t read his speeches beforehand. I just think it was unwise of the King to tread there. It’s the role of the political class to debate that sort of thing.”

In his speech at the state banquet in Windsor Castle earlier this week, King Charles said “our two countries face a multitude of complex threats, emanating from multiple directions. As friends and as allies, we face them together. These challenges know no borders: no fortress can protect us against them this time.”  He also spoke of the need to tackle “irregular migration across the English Channel.”

‘Of course we should be there’

The Reform MP hit out at the “Establishment” for not inviting party leader Nigel Farage or Tice himself to the state banquet, which was also attended by the Prince and Princess of Wales, along with celebrities including Mick Jagger and Elton John. “Of course we should [be there],” said Tice, whose right-wing populist party is currently leading national polls. “We are a serious part of the political debate and that just can’t be denied.”

Tice’s interview comes in the week his party touted the defection of former Conservative chairman Jake Berry to Reform UK, the latest high-profile name to jump ship.

Speaking to McElvoy after Berry’s defection, Tice said: “I think you’ll see a number of parliamentarian Tories thinking this is pretty clear which way this is going. Equally, most of the parliamentary Tory party are basically closet Lib Dems. That’s the reality. And they’re not really Conservatives. We’re not Tory Mark Two, we never will be.”

Tice also reiterated that his party will not countenance an electoral pact with the beleaguered Conservatives. “No deal,” he said. “Why would you do a deal with a party that’s disappearing down the plughole with a toxic brand?”

UAE praise

Tice stepped aside as Reform UK leader last year to make way for Farage’s return to frontline politics in one of the most dramatic moments of the U.K. general election campaign. 

He visits his partner, the journalist Isabel Oakeshott, in Dubai every 10-12 weeks. Asked whether that distracts him from his duties as member of parliament, the Reform deputy insisted: “I’m working hard in the chamber. They see that I’m in the constituency.” 

Pressed on whether he had warmed to an autocratic Gulf state with a patchy human rights record and limited free speech, Tice expressed admiration for the UAE. 

“Talk to a thousand people in Dubai. Does the place work? And they will say yes. Talk to a thousand people in the United Kingdom, a democracy and they will say broadly, no, the place is knackered. 

“Nothing works. We’re overtaxed. The economy’s going down the tubes. We’re heading towards bankruptcy. So how’s democracy worked out in the last two decades? Arguably not very well…Of course, I’m a massive advocate for democracy. I’m an elected parliamentarian, but I want a democracy that is successful, that works well.”