Nigel Farage threatens to make next election into 'immigration referendum' to heap more pressure on Rishi Sunak as senior Tory minister warns party is being outflanked 'on the right' by Labour

Nigel Farage is expected to take a leading role in attempts by Reform UK to make the next general election into a referendum on the UK's immigration levels.

The presenter and reality television star is being linked with a return to a senior role with the outfit he led when it was the Brexit Party in the new year off the back of his bronze-medal finish in I'm A Celebrity.

The party is seeking to heap more pressure on Rishi Sunak over the small boats crisis and his attempts to get Rwanda deportation flights off the ground.

Mr Farage still has an honorary position with Reform, but sources told the Observer today that they expect him to take a frontline role in the new year as it seeks to build on a rise in support.

It is planning to focus on immigration in the run up to the next election - which has to be called within a year of today. 

The move could cause trouble for Mr Sunak and help a Labour Party already a long way ahead in the polls by splitting the Tory vote. 

It came as a senior Tory minister warned the party is being outflanked 'to the right' by labour on immigration. 

A private paper written by Steve Baker, the Northern Ireland Minister and former leader of the Brexiteer European Research Group, said the government had to 'wake up'.

In extracts reported in the Telegraph he warned that Keir Starmer was repeating Tony Blair's strategy of repositioning Labour to take votes off the Tories, adding: 'Starmer has already outflanked the Conservatives on the right'. 

Yesterday Mr Sunak warned that illegal migrants will overwhelm Britain unless global refugee laws change, as he met Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Rome.

The PM warned failing to tackle the issue would 'destroy the public's faith' in politicians and governments. 

He was speaking at an event organised by Ms Meloni's right-wing party which has previously been attended by Hungary's Viktor Orban and ex-Trump aide Steve Bannon.

Downing Street said in the days leading up to the summit that Mr Sunak and Ms Meloni were 'likeminded' on immigration.

The pair have appeared close in previous meetings and were again pictured looking very friendly, as they smiled and shared a warm embrace.

Mr Sunak told the gathering of Italian conservatives and right-wingers that 'enemies' want to use migration as a 'weapon' and are 'deliberately driving people to our shores to try to destabilise our society'.

He added: 'If we do not tackle this problem, the numbers will only grow. It will overwhelm our countries and our capacity to help those who actually need our help the most.

'If that requires us to update our laws and lead an international conversation to amend the post-war frameworks around asylum, then we must do that.

'Because if we don't fix this problem now, the boats will keep coming and more lives will be lost at sea.'

He had warm praise for Ms Meloni, at whose Brothers of Italy annual Atreju event he was speaking.

Ms Meloni is another prime minister who has sought to lead tough action on migrants arriving across the Mediterranean, and the two leaders have developed a close partnership in recent months.

Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden defended Mr Sunak's claim today, telling Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips on Sky News: 'I think the Prime Minister is absolutely right to issue this warning, and indeed it's not just a warning, it's something that we have seen elsewhere - we have seen the weaponisation of migration, for example, in the conduct of Belarus in relation to Poland, there's been warnings from Finland in respect of the conduct of Russia.

'There's a broader point here, which is that we do have to reassure people that we have got control of our borders and we cannot have this unsustainable situation where we're enriching people smugglers - the worst people on the earth - through allowing this trade in human beings across the Atlantic, er, across the Channel, which is why we've introduced this legislation this week.'