The Reform UK leader doesn’t have to care about criticism (Image: OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images)
The knives are out for Nigel Farage with claims of fantasy economics regarding Reform’s public spending pledges. One of the benefits of riding high in the polls but not being in government is the ability to make commitments which can later be changed.
So far, Farage has pledged to reinstate the winter fuel payment cut by Labour as well as scrap the two-child benefit cap, among other promises. Opportunistic or not, Reform is parking its tanks on Labour’s lawn. Farage can also justify any U-turns given changed circumstances, such as the increased cost of living. Yet already his critics are lining up.
For example, the Financial Times claims economists believe Farage’s pledge to increase the personal allowance from £12,570 to £20,000 would cost £50-80bn.
The Reform boss says savings would come from scrapping net zero targets, foreign aid, quangos and other bloated areas of the state.
Yet, on net zero targets – saving nearly £50bn by some estimates – critics claim most of the investment will be private sector and thus government savings will be minimal.
At this stage, the details matter less than the mood music. At a time when cynicism about the two main parties is at an all-time high, the fact Farage’s commitments may need to change is unlikely to put his supporters off.
This is the vibes era, where voters crave authenticity, something Farage has in spades. Voters – at this stage – are likely to ask: so what if his pledges need amending so long as a man perceived to be on their side is in Downing Street?
But while Tory trash-talk is unlikely to nudge Farage off course, longer term Reform needs to demonstrate serious financial credibility. As the general election nears, voters will want to see plans are fully costed rather than merely aspirational.
Having taken control of several council authorities and their budgets, Reform’s record in local government will be held up as either evidence of sound management or recklessness come the next election, slated for 2029.
Reform benefits from broad scepticism towards both main parties, alongside widespread support for Reform’s broad ideas on immigration, crime and nationhood.
For what it’s worth I believe Reform’s move away from Thatcherism redux is genuine. The public wants pragmatic patriotism whether in the form of strong borders, pro-business policies or elements of welfarism. Claims of flip-flopping are unlikely to cut through.
Farage can then afford broad brushstrokes for now so long as they indicate a strong direction of travel. Come 2029 however and the public will need to trust Reform’s numbers roughly add up and a team is ready to run the UK better than either the Conservatives or Labour.
Keir Starmer’s mask-off premiership – PM is exposed as totally out of control
Keir Starmer is out of control (Image: Getty)
It hasn’t even been a year since Keir Starmer walked into Number 10 — and already his Government is crumbling. For a man who promised “stability” and “grown-up politics,” what we’ve had is chaos, cowardice, and cruelty. The honeymoon is over. The knives are out. And the rebellion has begun. Labour’s so-called “landslide” in 2024 was an illusion. Fewer people voted for Labour under Starmer than under Jeremy Corbyn in 2019.
Barely one in five Britons backed him. Labour didn’t win the country — the Tories simply lost it. Now, Starmer’s wafer-thin public support is evaporating. Why? Because he’s betrayed the very people his party claimed to represent. Pensioners, small business owners, the disabled, and working families — all thrown under the bus in pursuit of his ideology.
Labour has made it more expensive for businesses to hire people. In the middle of a productivity crisis. During a cost-of-living crunch. When unemployment is creeping up. What sane government makes hiring harder in a stagnating economy?
And what’s all this for? Is it to balance the books? Apparently not — because the Government still finds billions to hand over to Mauritius for the Chagos Islands, and still puts illegal immigrants in hotels at a cost of £5 billion a year. Labour is cutting support for the vulnerable to fund performative globalist gestures and an immigration system that is a national embarrassment.
But the rebellion is brewing. Over 130 Labour MPs have already signed a letter opposing the welfare cuts due for a vote next month. That’s a staggering number. For a Prime Minister less than a year into office, it’s not just humiliating — it’s potentially fatal. These aren’t seasoned rebels. Many are first-time MPs, horrified at what they’re being asked to rubber-stamp.
They signed up to fight poverty — not to deepen it. They campaigned on compassion — not cruelty. And now, having watched Labour cut fuel support for pensioners and target the disabled, they are saying enough is enough.
The pressure is mounting. Starmer’s partial U-turn on winter fuel payments hasn’t calmed things — it’s inflamed them. Backbenchers, now emboldened, smell weakness. They want more reversals.
More concessions. A halt to the welfare cuts. A rethink on the two-child benefit cap. And all the while, leadership hopefuls are circling. Angela Rayner, always keen to remind Starmer who the grassroots prefer, is openly contradicting the Chancellor with her own tax plans — plans which, conveniently, claim to raise just enough to cancel the welfare cuts.
Never mind the dodgy maths — the politics is obvious. She’s laying down her marker. Starmer is stuck. Backbenchers are furious. The unions are restless. The public is losing patience.
The coming weeks will be decisive. If Starmer pushes ahead with the PIP and welfare cuts, he faces a revolt from within. If he caves, his authority as Prime Minister collapses further. Either way, the mask of control has slipped.
What we are witnessing is the beginning of a collapse — not just of Labour’s short-lived mandate, but of the fantasy that Keir Starmer was ever up to the job.
