Restore Britain leader Rupert Lowe has issued a defiant public statement refusing to withdraw his candidate from the highly contested Makerfield by-election. In a newly released video, Lowe aggressively rebuffed pressure from rival right-wing party Reform UK to step aside, dismissed recent polling data, and leveled explosive new allegations against the Labour Party and Andy Burnham regarding the historical handling of grooming gangs.

The broadcast significantly escalates the right-wing civil war ahead of the June 18th vote, transforming the local by-election into a national flashpoint.

Rejecting the “Vote Splitting” Narrative

Lowe directly addressed the growing chorus of conservative voices—primarily from Nigel Farage’s Reform UK—urging Restore Britain to stand down to prevent “splitting the vote” and inadvertently handing the Makerfield seat to Labour’s Andy Burnham.

Lowe categorically rejected the premise of the argument. He dismissed a recent Times poll (which placed his party at just 7%) as a “relatively small,” outdated “establishment poll” that contradicts the “incredible support” his party is seeing through internal canvassing.

More fundamentally, Lowe argued that tactical voting is irrelevant because he views the current political establishment as monolithic. “I don’t see there’s any difference whether Burnham gets in… whether Starmer remains… whether Wes Streeting gets in. They’re all the same,” Lowe stated. He characterized the Labour Party as a “deeply malign” entity executing a “Fabian agenda” designed to undermine traditional British values, accusing them of disrespecting the 2016 Brexit referendum and secretly plotting to rejoin a “protectionist” European Union.

The Explosive Allegation: The Grooming Gang Inquiry

The most volatile segment of Lowe’s address was the announcement of an upcoming independent inquiry report, spearheaded by Restore Britain, scheduled for release in early June.

Lowe claimed the report will expose the Labour Party’s complicity in what he termed “the most pervasive evil in British history”—the systematic abuse and grooming of underage, white, working-class girls by “largely Pakistani Muslim men.”

According to Lowe, the report will demonstrate that Labour has presided over a “mass hiding” of this abuse across the country for potentially “40 or 50 years.” He explicitly targeted Andy Burnham, claiming the prominent Labour figure has “Pontius Pilate-like hands” regarding the issue, suggesting Burnham washed his hands of responsibility while in power.

“They’ve put power ahead of right and wrong, and they deserve to be punished for it,” Lowe declared, stating that once the report is published, “I don’t see how any self-respecting person can ever vote for the Labour Party again.”

A Swipe at Farage

Lowe also used the announcement to draw a sharp contrast between his party and Reform UK. He took a direct swipe at Nigel Farage, claiming that Farage had previously promised a similar inquiry into grooming gangs but “didn’t give us an inquiry.” Lowe positioned Restore Britain as the only faction willing to actually deliver on hardline populist promises.

The June 18th Showdown

By framing the Makerfield contest as a “Battle of Britain” against the establishment, Lowe is signaling that Restore Britain will not yield to political pragmatism. He noted that the by-election falls on June 18th—Waterloo Day—hoping the date signals “another great victory for this country.”

Lowe’s strategy is high-risk. If Restore Britain performs poorly, he will face severe backlash from the broader political right for acting as a spoiler. However, by threatening to detonate a highly sensitive, emotionally charged report on grooming gangs just weeks before the vote, Lowe is ensuring his party remains at the absolute center of the media cycle, forcing both Labour and Reform UK onto the defensive in the final, critical stretch of the campaign.