Nigel Farage's comment about Ukraine, first of all. He said last night that the West provoked Russia's invasion of Ukraine by expanding the European Union and NATO military alliance eastwards. I wonder what your reaction was to that.

My grandad was conscripted and went to the Normandy landings because of the apologists for Hitler. We don't want a Putin apologist in Downing Street or in government today. It's absolutely clear that we need to resist the ambitions of people like Putin. The Ukrainians are free, democratic people. They want to make sure that their country is liberated. And it's absolutely right that NATO, that Europe, our allies in the United States and across the world, support them in the interests of freedom and liberty across the world.

He did say that, of course, it's Putin's fault, the war in Ukraine. He's also said that Putin was wrong to invade a sovereign nation, but he's making the point that the EU was wrong to expand eastwards. He said that the sooner we realize this, the closer will be to ending the war.

Well, the expansion of the European Union and the inclusion of some of those states into the single market was one of the key Margaret Thatcher policies that was about bringing about the end of the Cold War. It's something that brought about an era of peace and prosperity. And there's absolutely no justifying the act that Putin has taken. And of course, he's followed those kinds of acts of aggression in other countries as well. We and our allies need to stand up to him. And I think Nigel Farash should be ashamed of himself. As somebody who claims to be patriotic, to be apologizing for Putin and saying that the West's actions justify that, that's simply That's really unacceptable.

Nigel Farage, of course, the leader of reform. How worried are you about the impact that reform is having on your election prospects? I notice there's another poll that suggests that they've moved ahead of the Tories. Obviously, there are a lot of polls, but there are a few now suggesting they've made that move and overtaken the Tories. How concerned are you about that?

Reform is the Farage show. Clearly, if you've got somebody who's making points like this, who's standing up for Vladimir Putin in our politics, then that's going to have a big impact. But the conservative party is focused on our positive agenda. We've delivered a transformation of our economy. Youth unemployment is half what it was in the last Labor Government, 4 million more people in work. Those have a huge impact on the quality of life and well-being. We've set out our plans for how we'll carry on that work to improve people's quality of life and well-being further in the next Parliament. The choice is going to be between that clear plan that's been set out by the Conservatives and a Labor Party who to date have not really been very clear about where they stand on tax and on so many other issues.

Yet, I hate Just to keep talking about polls, but just to quote one more that's in the iN newspaper this morning that suggests that nearly half of Tori voters and nearly half of reform voters would want the two parties, reform and you, the Conservatives, to come together. What do you make of that? Is that a good idea?

Nigel Farage is not a conservative. You would not find a conservative going out and saying that Putin was in any way justified for taking this action within an illegal war in Ukraine, the appalling atrocities that have been committed. That's a deeply unpatriotic thing. We, as the conservative party, have set out in that general issue that we have a 2.5% defense spending target because we recognize that the world is becoming increasingly unstable and unsafe for our people. We need to protect ourselves for the future from the consequences of the things which Nigel Farage is justifying, that have driven up, for example, energy prices in the UK and caused us as a country to have to borrow huge amounts of money to protect household budgets. And whilst the government is proud of having taken that intervention, that investment in defense spending is an insurance policy against having to do it in in the future. And that's the choice that people are going to be making at this election. Do you want a conservative party that sets that out very, very clearly, that knows what it's going to do on security and how it's going to pay for it and what the benefit of that is to the British people?

Or someone like Farash who apologizes for Putin and has £140 billion worth of unfunded spending complaints.

Okay, the Prime Minister yesterday said that he wouldn't be suspending any candidates suspected of putting bets on the general election. Are you comfortable with that stance? Would you like to see him go further on this?

The The Prime Minister has been clear the decision to suspend is a matter of fact rather than a matter of speculation, so we need to see the outcome of those investigations.

You don't want to see prospective candidates suspended then?

We need to see the outcome of the investigations. And if it turns out that they've broken the law, That's a different matter. But at the moment, it's speculation. I spoke to a lot of journalists who are betting on the outcome as well. Maybe they've been tipped off by Downing Street. Clearly, there was a huge amount of speculation going on about that. We need to know the facts about any individual before making a decision.

But how did you feel when you heard that had apparently been placed on the general election by people close to the Prime Minister?

I'm not a betting enthusiast, but I know lots of people speculate about that and they enjoy doing it. Clearly, the key message from this is if you're going to win quite a lot at the Bookies as a result of this, you're going to need it if there's a Labor government because you're going to have to pay for their tax rises.

But you weren't too uncomfortable about hearing those allegations then? It doesn't worry you.

Well, the allegations are uncomfortable. I say we need to know the facts. But the key point here is, of course, lots and lots of people like to bet not just on politics, but on all sorts of other things. As I say, if there is a change of government, the labor get into power, you're going to need every penny of those willing to pay for those tax rises that are coming down the street.

Okay, a very quick question about the night time economy. I know that's something that you want to be talking about today. What are the Tories' plans for it?

We've seen the UK's night time economy recovering from the COVID era and the measures which the government alongside local authorities brought in to make it easier, for example, for restaurants to access outside space to attract more diners. And indeed, at an event, my I've personally attended last night that was live music at a particular location that attracted lots of people and organized by a local business club, supported by me and the local authority, is an example of how we're bringing life back to our high streets. And what we want to make sure is at this election, that the benefit of things like the massive reductions in the business rates which have been introduced under the Conservatives, not replicated, I have to say, by the Labor Government in Wales, are still in place so that businesses, including those restaurants, cafés, and other things that are such an important part of keeping life on our high streets, are able to trade successfully into the future.

Okay. Well, David Simmons, thanks very much indeed for your time this morning. We appreciate it. Thank you.