Labour MP calls for ‘cordon sanitaire’ to block ‘nostalgic’ Reform UK and 'Far-Right' Farage 'at all costs'

Atkinson was elected as the local Labour MP after Reform UK’s support soared from just 11.6 per cent as the Brexit Party to 27 per cent following its rebranding.

The 42-year-old issued a plea for progressive voters to block the rise of Reform UK and is already fearful about the gains Farage could make in Sunderland in 2026.

Atkinson, who claimed social media users supporting Sunderland's rioters were aligned with Reform UK and telling thugs to "do it for Nigel", said: "Unfortunately, Sunderland is holding all out local elections in 2026.

"We know we will be Reform's number one target, certainly in the North East of England.

"I need two things to happen to defeat Reform. I need us to retain and gain support in white working-class communities ... The second thing I need is a progressive coalition, for want of a better term, to be aware of the levels of danger and do what is necessary to defeat Reform at all costs."

Reiterating his position, Atkinson distanced himself from formal deals but instead pointed to a "cordon sanitaire" in the form of tactical voting.

The French phrase means a measure designed to prevent communication or the spread of undesirable influences.

Such a situation could also lead Labour voters to endorse the Liberal Democrats in Newton Abbot or the Green Party in Waveney Valley.

However, Atkinson appeared to voice concern about Labour's current strategy in dealing with Farage.

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"I had moments of frustration in the General Election campaign when Nigel Farage came and did a rally in Sunderland," Atkinson conceded.

"For whatever reason that wasn't a priority for the national Labour Party and that cannot and will not be the case going forward."

Labour's top team were accused of neglecting the rise of Reform UK after considering it a necessary evil given the damage Farage could do to the Tories.

Clacton candidate Jovan Owusu-Nepaul ended up running a limited campaign in the Essex seaside town after receiving instructions from Southside to fixate his efforts in key target seats.

Despite distancing himself from the suggestion that all Reform UK voters were "far-right", Atkinson appeared to suggest many of them held backward looking ideas about the UK.

"The biggest distinction between Reform voters and potentially Labour voters is whether people are looking to the past or looking to the future," the Sunderland Central MP said. "In Sunderland, I've got groups mourning the loss of heavy industry, particularly shipbuilding on the River Wear, it closed down 30-years ago.

"There's a campaign group to bring back shipbuilding to the River Wear. You know what, I've met them and I will meet them again. But what I'm not going to do is allow the political space to be taken up on a nostalgic view that shipbuilding disappeared because of a conspiracy from the Labour council and no Labour MP will talk about shipbuilding. I'll not allow them that political space."

There was also consensus among the panellists that Reform UK's high command were members of the Far-Right.

Atkinson had separately stressed the need to halt the deluge of defections from Labour to Reform UK, often completed via the Tories in 2019.

Reform UK finished second in 98 seats on July 4, with 89 of them being won by Labour.

The populist party is certainly now hellbent on taking on Labour, with big pushes expected in Llanelli and Sittingbourne & Sheppey.

Responding to Atkinson's comments, a Reform UK source told GB News: "The Labour Party are petrified of Reform UK and so they should be. We came second in 89 Labour-held seats.

"That shows you that we are the real challengers to the Labour Party among working-people who have been left behind by Westminster and Whitehall.

"And any suggestion to create a progressive coalition to stop us just proves that they do not respect democracy, that they do not understand ordinary working people."

The insider added: "To claim that we are nostalgic in our policies and in our vision for Britain is absolute left-wing lunancy. It's not backward looking to want to put the British people first.

"It's not backward looking to want a strong economy. It's not backward looking to have a bold and ambitious plan to support real people. That's forward looking."

Farage is also hoping he could find himself in No10 in 2029.

Speaking to GB News during Reform UK's conference, Farage said: "I've never lived through a moment in my life where there has been such absolute disappointment and disillusionment with the two parties."

Farage also told cheering supporters: "We can win the next general election just with the numbers of people that agree with our principles."

The Brexit stalwart has been a major talking point in the first full-day of Labour's conference in Liverpool.

During the same Hope Not Hate event, which was so packed some Labour activists were forced to watch from outside the venue, Nick Lowles said: “Reform is an existential threat to the Labour Party and this country.”

He added: “We cannot give them an inch.”

Georgie Laming, who penned Hope Not Hate's strategy plan against the populist party, labelled Reform UK "authoritarian b******s" at another fringe event held shortly after.

Speaking at a separate event looking at how to keep Starmer on the left, Corbynista MP Richard Burgon said: “We need to be mindful of the threat on the far-right because after 14 years of attacks on living standards, attacks on public services, people want change.

"Let’s be clear what change means; they want public services, like the NHS to radically improve, and they want their living standards to improve.

“If our Government doesn’t manage to deliver on those things, I am very worried that significant portions of the population will say ‘I’ve given the Tories a chance, I’ve given Labour a chance, how about giving the far-right a chance’.

“The electoral advance of Reform should concern us all and the racist, Far-Right riots should appall us all.”

Burgon, who lost the Labour whip after voting to scrap the two-child benefit cap, later told GB News: “I do think clearly there’s a difference between the political main players in Reform and people who voted for them.

“Do I believe that 17 per cent of my constituents think that Lee Anderson has the answer to all of our problems? No, I don’t. I think their politics will be different from his.”