Tories attack ‘left-wing’ Reform hours before major Nigel Farage speech | Politics | News
Reform UK cannot be taken seriously on the economy, the Conservatives have warned, ahead of Nigel Farage’s major speech in London tomorrow. Mr Farage will make his first proper statement on his party’s economic policy tomorrow after confirming that Reform has ripped up previous manifesto commitments on taxes and spending.
But the Conservative Party accused the party of still offering “crazy left-wing policies” such as increasing welfare spending and nationalizing industries. Shadow Chancellor Sir Mel Stride warned: “It is impossible to take Economic Reform seriously when five minutes later their promises have failed and they remain committed to extra welfare spending and a massive expansion of the state. They are a one-man band and have only recently resorted to trashing their promises in a desperate attempt to appear economically credible.”
“They have failed to find savings in local government and are instead planning tax increases on hard-working families. Their left-wing, tax-increasing, debt-increasing proposals for the national economy will leave families paying the price.”
“Only the Conservatives have the plan, strong team and backbone to control spending, cut taxes and deliver a stronger economy.”
Last month Mr Farage abandoned the party’s pledges to cut taxes by £90bn in 2024, saying the Reform government would not cut taxes until it got public spending under control.
At the last election the party promised to scrap many unwelcome taxes within the first 100 days, including stamp duty, fuel duty and inheritance tax, but many economists warned this would repeat the mistakes of Liz Truss’s Mini Budget.
He promised that Reform would “never borrow to spend, as Labor and the Conservatives have long done; instead we will ensure savings are made before implementing tax cuts”.
Mr Tice, who largely wrote last year’s manifesto as leader before Mr Farage’s return, also confirmed that the party’s policy of increasing the income tax threshold to £20,000 was now just a ‘wish’.
Mr Farage will give a speech on the economy in the City of London tomorrow morning as he lays out his party’s approach to tax and spending.
Mr Tice said last month: “A manifesto is time-honored. The principles behind it are certainly very solid.”
“We said we need to make very significant savings to finance running the economy in a different way.
“What has happened since then is that the state of the economy has gotten much worse because of the mismanagement of the Labor government. And we will, as I said, focus relentlessly on savings.”
