> Nigel Farage will break with his manifesto pledges of £90 billion in tax cuts as he attempts to bolster his party’s economic credibility. The leader of Reform UK will promise not to reduce taxes before reducing spending, deep cuts to the civil service and a ban on borrowing to fund government expenditure in his first big speech on the economy next month. Staking a claim to the mantle of fiscal responsibility after a week in which the Conservatives criticised his economic policies, Farage told The Times: “At the next election, we will present a rigorous and fully-costed manifesto. “Reform will never borrow to spend, as Labour and the Tories have done for so long; instead, we will ensure savings are made before implementing tax cuts. I will have more to say on all this in the coming weeks.”
> Senior party sources said Farage would formally drop Reform’s 2024 manifesto and replace its proposals for dramatic cuts to fuel duty, income, corporation and inheritance taxes with new policies. His comments are the clearest indication yet that the party is determined to head off criticism from its political opponents and economists by moderating its programme. His speech next month will be the first occasion on which he has set out his economic philosophy. Both Labour and the Conservatives have sought to undermine Reform’s fiscal programme in recent weeks. Sir Mel Stride, the shadow chancellor, lambasted Reform as a “populist alternative that is totally detached from reality” in his Tory conference speech last week.
> Some opinion polls suggest that the Conservatives lead Reform when voters are asked which party they most trust on the economy. Jonathan Brown, the chief executive of the Reform-aligned Centre for a Better Britain, said that donors and “affluent swing voters” needed “reassurances that a potential government can reduce the deficit and lower taxes with a credible plan, and not repeat Liz Truss’s mistakes”. Richard Tice, Farage’s deputy, told the BBC last month that Reform was likely to depart from its 2024 manifesto and would “focus on the savings” rather than cut taxes immediately. “Our promise is to save money, to cut regulations — we deliver on that, then we deliver direction of travel on tax cuts.”
> While emphasising that he remained committed to the principles of the manifesto, Farage has gone further with a promise not to cut taxes until spending is reduced. In an interview in Wales with The Times, he also clarified that Reform’s previous pledge to increase the tax-free personal allowance to £20,000 — estimated by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) to cost between £50 billion and £80 billion — was “a goal we should aspire for”. He added: “We’ve said our ambition would be to get to £20,000. Now look, to get there there’s going to have to be genuine economic growth. But is that a prize, a goal we should aspire for? Absolutely.”
> Reform will pledge to drive growth and lower energy costs with a programme of investment in part-nationalised nuclear power plants, and reduce government spending with a ban on welfare payments to most migrants and deeper cuts to the public sector and civil service than those it has already promised. Farage said: “Our commitment to ending net-zero policies, benefits for foreigners and wasteful behaviour by the Bank of England remains firm. We will bring back the biggest taxpayers, encourage businesses — especially small ones — and produce our own oil and gas. The 2024 document proposed reductions in civil service spending, but we will increase those cuts. We will cut overall spending, introduce an industrial policy and drive a cultural shift in attitudes towards work and success.”
> Speaking on the campaign trail before the Caerphilly by-election to the Welsh parliament on October 23, he did not respond to demands to name his shadow chancellor but suggested he would soon be able to draw on backing from the business community. Several high-profile figures from industry have privately indicated they would be willing to serve in a Reform cabinet, party officials said. Farage said: “We will be launching between now and the budget, a new campaign — an economic campaign…it’s going to be very impactful. It’ll be another high-profile individual coming into politics from outside of politics, who’s been supremely successful in their world.” Promising a “total change of attitude” on the economy, he said: “We are not a party dominated by corporate thinking. The Tories and Labour are both dominated by corporate thinking.”
> The IFS has questioned whether Reform’s economic plans are credible, warning last year that the party had overestimated how much it could save through spending cuts: “Even with the extremely optimistic assumptions about how much economic growth would increase, the sums in this manifesto do not add up.” Right-leaning think tanks have also urged the party to set out more credible policy. The Institute for Economic Affairs last month called for Reform to “put some serious economic policies on the table”.
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> Nigel Farage will break with his manifesto pledges of £90 billion in tax cuts as he attempts to bolster his party’s economic credibility. The leader of Reform UK will promise not to reduce taxes before reducing spending, deep cuts to the civil service and a ban on borrowing to fund government expenditure in his first big speech on the economy next month. Staking a claim to the mantle of fiscal responsibility after a week in which the Conservatives criticised his economic policies, Farage told The Times: “At the next election, we will present a rigorous and fully-costed manifesto. “Reform will never borrow to spend, as Labour and the Tories have done for so long; instead, we will ensure savings are made before implementing tax cuts. I will have more to say on all this in the coming weeks.”
> Senior party sources said Farage would formally drop Reform’s 2024 manifesto and replace its proposals for dramatic cuts to fuel duty, income, corporation and inheritance taxes with new policies. His comments are the clearest indication yet that the party is determined to head off criticism from its political opponents and economists by moderating its programme. His speech next month will be the first occasion on which he has set out his economic philosophy. Both Labour and the Conservatives have sought to undermine Reform’s fiscal programme in recent weeks. Sir Mel Stride, the shadow chancellor, lambasted Reform as a “populist alternative that is totally detached from reality” in his Tory conference speech last week.
> Some opinion polls suggest that the Conservatives lead Reform when voters are asked which party they most trust on the economy. Jonathan Brown, the chief executive of the Reform-aligned Centre for a Better Britain, said that donors and “affluent swing voters” needed “reassurances that a potential government can reduce the deficit and lower taxes with a credible plan, and not repeat Liz Truss’s mistakes”. Richard Tice, Farage’s deputy, told the BBC last month that Reform was likely to depart from its 2024 manifesto and would “focus on the savings” rather than cut taxes immediately. “Our promise is to save money, to cut regulations — we deliver on that, then we deliver direction of travel on tax cuts.”
> While emphasising that he remained committed to the principles of the manifesto, Farage has gone further with a promise not to cut taxes until spending is reduced. In an interview in Wales with The Times, he also clarified that Reform’s previous pledge to increase the tax-free personal allowance to £20,000 — estimated by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) to cost between £50 billion and £80 billion — was “a goal we should aspire for”. He added: “We’ve said our ambition would be to get to £20,000. Now look, to get there there’s going to have to be genuine economic growth. But is that a prize, a goal we should aspire for? Absolutely.”
> Reform will pledge to drive growth and lower energy costs with a programme of investment in part-nationalised nuclear power plants, and reduce government spending with a ban on welfare payments to most migrants and deeper cuts to the public sector and civil service than those it has already promised. Farage said: “Our commitment to ending net-zero policies, benefits for foreigners and wasteful behaviour by the Bank of England remains firm. We will bring back the biggest taxpayers, encourage businesses — especially small ones — and produce our own oil and gas. The 2024 document proposed reductions in civil service spending, but we will increase those cuts. We will cut overall spending, introduce an industrial policy and drive a cultural shift in attitudes towards work and success.”
> Speaking on the campaign trail before the Caerphilly by-election to the Welsh parliament on October 23, he did not respond to demands to name his shadow chancellor but suggested he would soon be able to draw on backing from the business community. Several high-profile figures from industry have privately indicated they would be willing to serve in a Reform cabinet, party officials said. Farage said: “We will be launching between now and the budget, a new campaign — an economic campaign…it’s going to be very impactful. It’ll be another high-profile individual coming into politics from outside of politics, who’s been supremely successful in their world.” Promising a “total change of attitude” on the economy, he said: “We are not a party dominated by corporate thinking. The Tories and Labour are both dominated by corporate thinking.”
> The IFS has questioned whether Reform’s economic plans are credible, warning last year that the party had overestimated how much it could save through spending cuts: “Even with the extremely optimistic assumptions about how much economic growth would increase, the sums in this manifesto do not add up.” Right-leaning think tanks have also urged the party to set out more credible policy. The Institute for Economic Affairs last month called for Reform to “put some serious economic policies on the table”.