Nigel Farage says Wales has become a 'basket case' under Labour
Getty ImagesNigel Farage says Wales has become a "basket case" after 27 years of having a Welsh Labour government.
The Reform UK leader called on voters to smash Labour to "smithereens" in the Senedd election after taking Wales "for granted".
At his party's final Welsh campaign rally on Tuesday, Farage accused Plaid Cymru candidates of being "anti-English", and claimed polls suggesting Plaid led in the Senedd race were similar to predictions Remain would win the Brexit vote.
His party's Welsh leader Dan Thomas joined him in Merthyr Tydfil and said that Welsh voters could give Reform a majority in the 7 May election - an outcome thought by many to be unlikely for any party.
Thomas also appeared to support the idea that migrant detention centres for people awaiting deportation could be opened in areas that vote for Plaid Cymru in a UK general election, after Reform suggested the same for areas that vote Green.
Speaking at the rally in Merthyr Tydfil, which took place at a Trago Mills car park, Farage said: "Under 27 years of bad government, Wales has become a basket case - there's no doubt about it. Poorly led, idiotic policies.
"What is about to happen here is that the party that has been able to take Wales for granted for over 100 years on Thursday will deservedly get smashed to smithereens by the electorate."
Farage said Wales would not get change if it voted Plaid, and without citing specific evidence he alleged "very few" of Plaid's candidates had "ever had a proper job or a real life in the community".
"They are political apparatchiks, they are hard leftists. Many of them have very, very extreme views and are frankly just plain anti-English," he claimed.
He said opinion polls will "tell you Plaid's in the lead, just as they told us that Remain would win the referendum".
"Don't believe what you're being told," he added.
Getty ImagesRecent polls have suggested that Reform or Plaid Cymru are both vying to be the biggest party in Wales' parliament after the election, with the latest by YouGov on Tuesday putting Plaid slightly ahead of Reform.
Welsh leader Thomas said he "absolutely" agreed with Reform's home affairs spokesperson Zia Yusuf for saying Green-controlled areas would be prioritised for migrant detention centres under a Reform UK government, because of what he described as the party's support for "open borders".
Thomas told Welsh language magazine Golwg: "If there is locations where people predominantly want so-called asylum seekers to live amongst them, or live near them, then they are welcome to have those centres.
"I would say though, I don't think there's going to be any Green strongholds in Wales. I don't think its applicable to us."
Asked if Yusuf's policy would apply to areas that voted Plaid at the next general election, he said: "Clearly people who live there would be happy as because they are voting for a pro-immigration party, so what's the problem?"
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PA MediaThomas also told the rally that Reform could beat expectations and win a majority in the Senedd, which would require winning at least 49 seats.
Opinion polling for the election have led most to expect that no party will win that many seats the 96-member Welsh Parliament.
Questioned by BBC Wales on whether he has a path to power, Thomas said it would be to "win a majority".
"The only reason people are saying you can't win a majority is the opinion polls," he said.
"I think they're out. The pollsters are struggling with this system, and with politics in general."
He added: "I'm not saying we will. I can't take anything for granted."
Experts have expected that whoever wins the election will need to find someone else to help get crucial votes through the Senedd, whether in a coalition or a more informal arrangement.
A Plaid Cymru spokesperson said: "If this is all Farage has to say, then it shows just how desperate Reform UK are just two days before a historic Senedd election.
"After all, his party is simply made of parachuted ex-Tories whom bear no reality of the issues facing the communities they seek to represent, nor any credible plans to fix them."
It added that Plaid was "proud to have candidates rooted in our communities".
