Nigel Farage announces big tax break for Brit workers if he becomes PM | Politics | News

Nigel Farage last night made a bold bid to support working Britons by promising to abolish overtime tax at a time when Reform UK is fighting to oust Labor from Downing Street. People earning less than £75,000 and working 40 hours a week will not pay tax on more hours they work under Mr Farage’s ruling plans. Reform announced its promise last night, claiming that Labor was “no longer the party of the patriotic working class”. The announcement of the “hard work bonus” is the clearest sign that Mr Farage intends to take the fight to Labour, following successes this month in elections to English councils and the Scottish and Welsh parliaments. The reform’s pledge to cut taxes for Britons willing to work more hours comes as activists seek to destroy Andy Burnham’s ambitions to become Prime Minister by defeating him in a by-election next month in the Labor heartland seat of Makerfield.

Labor has been criticized for increasing National Insurance for employers and freezing personal allowances, forcing more people to pay income tax.

Mr Farage said: “I have become increasingly aware of the deep frustration felt by hard-working people who put in extra hours but see no real reward at the end of the month. They look around and see that work is not paying off, benefits are often equal to or more than what they earn, and ordinary families are being dragged into higher tax brackets with nothing to show for it. Today we are announcing our bold new policy that will finally pay for work, boost productivity and bring back the appeal of a strong work culture once again.”

The party says Makerfield is at the heart of “England’s alarm clock” and claims “nowhere do people work harder than at the old Red Wall”.

The statement said: “Reform is now the party that works hard but the system no longer works for them. The hardest workers receive nothing from the Government but eye-watering bills and very high taxes. That is why today we are announcing that the Reform Government will abolish the overtime tax.”

Reform claims that “Britain has spent 18 years since the financial crash failing to close the productivity gap” and argues that its policy “will reward the hardest working workers”.

Supporters received a huge boost this month when Labor lost control of the Welsh Senedd for the first time since its formation. Reform is now the second largest party in the Senedd and the second largest party in the Scottish Parliament. It also won the most seats in local government elections in England, raising expectations that Farage could become prime minister after the next general election.

John Longworth, who chairs the Independent Business Network of family businesses, welcomed the commitment to a “hard work bonus” and said: “British people are taxed at the highest level since the Second World War and under the Welfare Party, when Labor’s hard labor went unpaid. This change in tax will give workers an incentive to earn extra, boosting productivity in the process. It’s a welcome step away from high tax, big government. The devil is in the detail, and this could also apply to individual traders and family businesses.” and Eliminate the disincentive of hourly wages.”

The reform expects factory workers who work an extra 90 minutes a day to “earn an extra £3 for every extra hour worked” and be “more than £1,000 better off over the course of the year”. He calculated that the policy would cost £5bn a year but said he was “committed to cuts and savings of over £40bn”.

The party is confident that if this month’s local elections were a general election, the vote swing would be enough to oust Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy in Wigan, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper in Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley and Chief Whip Jonathan Reynolds in Stalybridge and Hyde, as well as former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner in Ashton-under-Lyne and Labor deputy leader Lucy Powell in Manchester Central.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Lucy Rigby accused Reform of being “behind the fag pack plans”.

He said: “The Labor Government is getting the job done with consecutive increases to the National Minimum Wage and the National Living Wage; we’ve introduced sick pay from day one of employment and improved parental leave. This is what it’s like to be there for working people.”

Shadow Chancellor Sir Mel Stride said: “Hard work should be rewarded, which means cutting taxes fairly and responsibly.”

But he cast doubt on whether the party could make the tax-free overtime policy a reality, saying: “Reform is not serious, so they promise things they can’t deliver. Only the Conservatives have a clear plan to support working people, cut taxes and deliver a stronger economy through our golden economic rule and £47bn savings plan.”

Former Conservative Business Secretary Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg said: “Anything that encourages work is welcome, and Nigel is right that it is unfair for people to get more from benefits than from work. But it is better to simplify taxation and cut rates than to create new schemes that can easily lead to avoidance.”

Julian Jessop, Senior Fellow at the Institute of Economic Affairs, warned of “unintended consequences”.

He said: “Many firms already pay higher rates for overtime and this is a better market-driven solution. If overtime is taxed at a lower rate, firms could reduce pre-tax pay and workers would be no better off.”

The reform says it would “introduce anti-avoidance rules to prevent employers from classifying normal working hours as overtime”.