Nigel Farage warns Britain MUST tackle ‘extraordinary’ debt mountain and lure back wealthy – as he puts Reform’s plans for huge tax cuts on hold

Nigel Farage has warned Britain must deal with an ‘extraordinary’ mountain of debt today as he scraps Reform’s election promises of huge tax cuts.

In a landmark speech in the City of London, Mr Farage made a bold attempt to burnish his reputation as a serious choice to lead the country.

Underlining that reducing the budget deficit and reducing bureaucracy in the business world will be a top priority for the Reform government, he said that only then can the burden on struggling Britons be reduced.

Mr Farage also appeared to backtrack on his pledge to scrap the two-child benefit limit; He suggested that only working couples could receive such benefits.

Stating that insisting on reform was “sensible” and “not too promising”, Mr Farage said he was determined to “cut spending” and “stimulate growth”.

He said welfare changes such as cutting people with low-level anxiety off of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) would save £9bn a year. The ‘frenzy’ of Net Zero spending will also subside.

‘We want to cut taxes, of course we do, but we also understand that significant tax cuts are unrealistic at the moment,’ Mr Farage said.

‘The financial situation and the state of the economy are much worse compared to the 2024 general elections. But rest assured, we are pro-business…’

Mr Farage warned that debt in the UK was rising faster than ‘any comparable country’ and that debt interest costs alone were around £100bn a year.

He said ‘markets are angry’ and predicted investors would force even the ‘far-left socialist’ Labor Party into a ‘real austerity budget’ in 2027, triggering a snap election.

The intervention comes with polls showing Mr Farage is on course to win the keys to Downing Street.

But Reform faces increasing questions about what their approach will be if they come to power.

The speech was billed as Mr Farage’s first major foray into economic policy after he gained huge support by campaigning on issues such as immigration and ‘wrongness’.

Insiders acknowledge that as the election approaches, the party will need to show they can be trusted with detailed policies.

The speech was billed as Mr Farage’s first major foray into economic policy after he gained huge support by campaigning on issues such as immigration and ‘wrongness’.

Last year’s reform manifesto promised tax cuts worth £90bn, equivalent to around a third of the NHS budget.

These include increasing the personal allowance to £20,000, introducing a £100,000 tax-free allowance for companies and exempting some high street firms from business tariffs.

At the time, the Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank said the plans, £50 billion spending commitments and £150 billion in cuts were ‘problematic’.

In his speech today, Mr Farage accused Labor and the Conservatives of ‘destroying the public finances’.

He said the reform would be the most ‘pro-business’ government in British history. Comprehensive deregulation to make the most of Brexit freedoms.

Mr Farage said: ‘The harsh reality is that in many areas regulations and regulators are worse than they were in 2016.’

Promising to ‘free up businesses to move forward and make more money’, he said: ‘Reform in the UK will make things very different.

‘We will be the most pro-business, pro-entrepreneurship government this country has seen in modern times.

‘This will mean better paying jobs for workers.’

The rebel leader said Britain must rediscover its ability to take ‘risks’, encourage the rich rather than force them to leave, and stop the ‘ideological’ drive for ‘deindustrialisation’.

He pointed out that China had ‘benefitted’ from the disastrous decisions made by Labor and the Conservatives.

Mr Farage refused to say who would be Chancellor or Home Secretary if Reform won the election, saying the party was a ‘work in progress’.

‘We’re not ready right now… you can see we’re improving the thinking, we’re improving the messaging in very, very broad areas.’

Labor said Mr Farage’s new proposals would ‘take us back to austerity’.

A party spokesman said: ‘We have seen from the council’s Reform work that they have failed to deliver the savings they have already promised and as a result they are cutting services and increasing taxes.

‘They themselves have said that these councils are a showcase of what a Reform government can do at national level; We know it’s just more empty promises and not a real plan.’

Conservative shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride said reform could not be taken seriously on the economy ‘when their promises come to nothing five minutes later and they are stuck with extra welfare spending and a massive expansion of the state’.

He said: ‘They are a one man band and in a desperate attempt to appear economically credible they have recently begun to trash their promises.

‘They have failed to find savings in local government and are instead planning tax increases on hard-working families.’