Nigel Farage has posted what appears to be an AI image of a group of migrants in a dinghy holding up pro-Andy Burnham placards.
The people in the image can be seen smiling as they wave the red signs featuring the slogan ‘Vote Andy For Us’ alongside a cartoon image of the Greater Manchester mayor.
Alongside the image, posted on X, he wrote: ‘Andy Burnham is for them, not for you. Vote Reform in Makerfield.’
The Reform UK leader’s post is an apparent dig at Labour politician’s immigration policy, a key issue among many voters in the Makerfield parliamentary seat Burnham is hoping to win on June 18.
In a tongue-in-cheek response, the Greater Manchester mayor wrote: ‘Are you getting desperate, lad? Maybe keep your crypto millions for something else.’
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The comment is a reference to the ongoing controversy over a £5million donation Farage received from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne shortly before the 2024 general election.
In response, Farage shared a screenshot of an article claiming the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, which Burnham leads, is going to spend £700,000 on helping refugees overcome ‘barriers to accessing housing, welfare and local services’.
The policies are said to be largely targeted at refugees who have already been granted asylum.
Alongside the screenshot, the former UKIP leader wrote: ‘Your scheme will provide housing and benefits to people who came here illegally.
‘I prefer to put the British people first.’
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Reform has repeatedly attacked Burnham over his perceived softness on immigration as he fights to return to parliament amid rampant speculation he will challenge sitting Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in a Labour leadership contest shortly afterwards.
The contested seat is in Wigan, which voted Leave by roughly 63% in the Brexit referendum.
Burnham previously called for the government to scrap a restriction on immigrants claiming benefits, known as no recourse to public funds (NRPF), but reversed this stance last week amid ongoing scrutiny.
He also recently declared that net migration ‘needs to fall further’ after the Office for National Statistics put the UK’s net migration at 171,000 last year – one of the lowest rates since the start of this century.
Recent polling by Survation puts Burnham – who was the MP for Leigh from 2001 until 2017 – in the lead with 43%.
This was only 3% ahead of Reform’s candidate, Robert Kenyon.
Businesswoman Rebecca Shepherd is running for Restore UK and attracted seven per cent, according to the survey.
The survey placed the Liberal Democrats on 4%, the Greens on 3%, and the Conservatives on 2%.
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