Tories claim Farage’s ‘incoherent’ economy speech leaves multiple unanswered questions
The Conservatives have described Nigel Farage’s speech today as rambling and incoherent. This is from Mel Stride, the shadow chancellor.
After a speech that was supposed to be Reform’s attempt to restore their economic credibility, Nigel Farage has left the public with far more questions than answers.
Farage did not set out which of the £140bn of commitments he made last year he still stands by, and which he has now dropped. And in a speech which was supposed to be demonstrating fiscal restraint, he instead announced ‘the biggest council housebuilding programme ever’, which could run into the tens of billions of pounds.
Stride was referring to Farage saying in his speech: “We will commit to the biggest building programme of genuinely affordable housing in this country that has ever been seen.”
Stride added:
After this rambling, incoherent speech, it is clear Reform’s economy policy is in chaos. Farage might claim he’s not a ‘one man band’, but he can’t even tell us who his chancellor would be. This is not serious, it is just more announcements without a plan.
To back up Stride’s point about unanswered questions, the Tories released a list of 10 questions unanswered by Reform UK. For the record, here they are:
1) Which of their previous £140bn of spending commitments are Reform saying are fully funded commitments, and which are merely “aspirations”?
2) In the speech, Farage promised the biggest council housebuilding programme ever – how much would this cost and how would it be funded?
3) Reform’s ‘Contract’ promised what they said were £141bn a year of spending increases and unfunded tax cuts. The IFS pointed out their proposals would cost “tens of billions of pounds per year” more than they had calculated. What are Reform’s current spending and tax pledges, and how are they being paid for?
4) Farage claimed that he had been “misunderstood” on the two-child benefit cap. So why did he previously say “we believe lifting the two-child cap is the right thing to do”? What’s changed?
5) Farage claimed he has proposed the biggest welfare cuts of any party, including £9bn from Pip for people with low level anxiety – what evidence does he have for these claims?
6) Farage today criticised stamp duty on shares – is he promising to remove this?
7) Farage praised crypto again today and last month promised to cut capital gains tax on crypto assets from 24% to 10%? How much would this cost, and what would stop it from being used for tax avoidance?
8) Farage said public sector pension savings are supposed to pay for these promises. How much are Reform proposing they will save and how? Can we see their workings?
9) Why can’t Farage say who his shadow chancellor will be – or is he just a one-man band?
10) Reform’s last manifesto was billed as a “contract” with the British people. Isn’t today’s speech a (partial) admission that, if he’d been elected as prime minister, he would have broken the promises he made in that contract? What does this say about our ability to trust anything Reform ever say?
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NAHT teaching union loses legal bid to block introduction of Ofsted’s new report card system for grading schools
A head teachers’ union has lost a bid to bring a high court legal challenge against Ofsted over the watchdog’s plan to grade schools through report cards, PA Media reports. PA says:
The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), along with head teacher Barbara Middleton, began legal action against Ofsted in May this year, claiming that the body failed to adequately consult on its plans to change the way schools are inspected.
Ofsted scrapped single-word judgments for schools in 2024 and unveiled the new report card scheme in September, which is due to come into effect on November 10.
The new framework was announced following a consultation launched after criticism of the inspection system since the death of head teacher Ruth Perry.
At the high court today, barristers for the NAHT and Middleton said that they should be allowed to proceed with a legal challenge over Ofsted’s consultation and decision to adopt the new framework.
They claimed the consultation “ruled out” the use of “narrative-only verdicts” on schools and failed to consider the impact of the new framework on staff wellbeing.
They also asked a judge to temporarily block the report card plans from coming into force, pending the full hearing of the challenge.
Lawyers for Ofsted said it was “vigorously opposed” to a delay in implementing the plans, telling the court that they were a “considerable upgrade in terms of wellbeing” and that the challenge “is on any view a weak claim”.
In a ruling, Mr Justice Saini dismissed the claim, finding that Ofsted had not made an “arguable error”.
He said: “It is for Ofsted to decide how to conduct its inspections in the way which, in its expert judgment, is most effective, while taking account of the risk to the wellbeing of teaching staff and leaders.”
He continued: “The evidence satisfies me that Ofsted’s conclusions, that a grading plus narrative approach best balances the different interests at play, was reached after a detailed consultation conducted in a procedurally lawful way and after a careful assessment of the various views expressed to it, including consideration of wellbeing issues.”
There will be an urgent question in the Commons at 3.30pm about the acquittal of “Soldier F” in the Bloody Sunday murder trial, followed by a statement from Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, at about 4.15pm.
ShareFarage criticised after he refuses to confirm that Reform UK remains committed to PR
Peter Walker
Peter Walker is the Guardian’s senior political correspondent.
The Liberal Democrats have condemned Nigel Farage as “a chancer” after the Reform UK leader declined to say whether he still supported proportional representation now his party seems likely to benefit from the current voting system.
Farage has long been a vocal advocate as PR, including before the last general election, where Reform received more than 14% of the total votes but fewer than 1% of the MPs.
Now, however, things are different. Such is the distorting effect of first past the post that now Reform are polling above 30%, this is generally seen as enough to give them a clear majority in the Commons.
Asked – by the Guardian’s Pippa Crerar – at Monday’s press conference about why he had “gone rather quiet” on PR, Farage ignored the question.
Lisa Smart, the Cabinet Office spokesperson for the Lib Dems, who very much remain fans of PR, said:
Nigel Farage is a chancer and a grifter. He’s following the Trump playbook once again: cynically liking one set of rules until another lot suit him better.
Previously a supporter of proportional representation, Farage seems to have dropped that commitment – along with his economic contract to the nation – as he thinks it’s in his interests. But maybe truly fair votes were never going to be Farage’s bag, given his deep-seated desire to twist Britain into a shape that benefits him and his ilk.
In its manifesto last year Reform said it was committed to PR. But earlier this year Zia Yusuf, who at the time was party chair and who is now head of policy, said moving to PR would bring Britain to gridlock. He told a Spectator podcast:
I firmly believe – and I’m speaking personally here – I think if PR was ever instituted in this country, we will end up in a state of gridlock. We will not be able to do the frankly quite ambitious, and in some cases radical, things by the time we get to 2029 that we’re going to need to do to unshackle the British economy from the crazy overregulation to unleash the potential of British ingenuity.
ShareTories claim Farage’s ‘incoherent’ economy speech leaves multiple unanswered questions
The Conservatives have described Nigel Farage’s speech today as rambling and incoherent. This is from Mel Stride, the shadow chancellor.
After a speech that was supposed to be Reform’s attempt to restore their economic credibility, Nigel Farage has left the public with far more questions than answers.
Farage did not set out which of the £140bn of commitments he made last year he still stands by, and which he has now dropped. And in a speech which was supposed to be demonstrating fiscal restraint, he instead announced ‘the biggest council housebuilding programme ever’, which could run into the tens of billions of pounds.
Stride was referring to Farage saying in his speech: “We will commit to the biggest building programme of genuinely affordable housing in this country that has ever been seen.”
Stride added:
After this rambling, incoherent speech, it is clear Reform’s economy policy is in chaos. Farage might claim he’s not a ‘one man band’, but he can’t even tell us who his chancellor would be. This is not serious, it is just more announcements without a plan.
To back up Stride’s point about unanswered questions, the Tories released a list of 10 questions unanswered by Reform UK. For the record, here they are:
1) Which of their previous £140bn of spending commitments are Reform saying are fully funded commitments, and which are merely “aspirations”?
2) In the speech, Farage promised the biggest council housebuilding programme ever – how much would this cost and how would it be funded?
3) Reform’s ‘Contract’ promised what they said were £141bn a year of spending increases and unfunded tax cuts. The IFS pointed out their proposals would cost “tens of billions of pounds per year” more than they had calculated. What are Reform’s current spending and tax pledges, and how are they being paid for?
4) Farage claimed that he had been “misunderstood” on the two-child benefit cap. So why did he previously say “we believe lifting the two-child cap is the right thing to do”? What’s changed?
5) Farage claimed he has proposed the biggest welfare cuts of any party, including £9bn from Pip for people with low level anxiety – what evidence does he have for these claims?
6) Farage today criticised stamp duty on shares – is he promising to remove this?
7) Farage praised crypto again today and last month promised to cut capital gains tax on crypto assets from 24% to 10%? How much would this cost, and what would stop it from being used for tax avoidance?
8) Farage said public sector pension savings are supposed to pay for these promises. How much are Reform proposing they will save and how? Can we see their workings?
9) Why can’t Farage say who his shadow chancellor will be – or is he just a one-man band?
10) Reform’s last manifesto was billed as a “contract” with the British people. Isn’t today’s speech a (partial) admission that, if he’d been elected as prime minister, he would have broken the promises he made in that contract? What does this say about our ability to trust anything Reform ever say?
The foreign affairs committee is currently taking evidence from Sir Chris Wormald, the cabinet secretary, and Sir Olly Robbins, permanent secretary at the Foreign Office, about the appointment of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the US. There is a live feed here.
ShareFarage accused of betraying pensioners, but praised for ‘fiscal discipline’, after hinting he might ditch pensions triple lock
If Nigel Farage was hoping to use his speech this morning to establish some economic credibility (see 9.34am), he did not really achieve that. While he confirmed that the 2024 Reform UK manifesto has been consigned to the dustbin, and that the party is now committed to controlling borrowing before it starts slashing taxes (see 11.53am), there was next to no detail at all about what this policy might involve, or how the party would cut overall spending. Instead, most of it was just a familiar rant about regulation, and how everything was better in the 1980s.
But there is at least one area where Farage might attract the backing of mainstream economic opinion; he refused to commit to keeping the pensions triple lock. (See 11.58am.)
Commenting on this, Daisy Cooper, the Lib Dem Treasury spokesperson, said:
Farage is looking to raid the pockets of some of the most vulnerable pensioners to pay for his anti-net zero agenda and the mysterious, unelected ‘advisers’ he envisages running the government.
He is no champion of pensioners – he’d betray them if he ever reached Downing Street.
The Lib Dems were proud to introduce the pension triple lock to tackle pensioner poverty and we will fight to protect the pensioners of today and tomorrow from the vultures in Reform UK.
Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, has also backed the triple lock, implying her party would commit to keeping it in a future manifesto. Labour has not made a commitment on the triple lock for the next election, but it has not indicated any enthusiasm to get rid of it.
Yet many economists and policy experts believe the triple lock, which guarantees that the state pension will rise every year in line with earning, inflation or by 2.5%, whichever is higher, is not a sensible long-term policy. It is due to cost £15bn a year by 2030, three times more than expected when it was introduced by the coalition government.
This is what Robert Colvile, director of the Centre for Policy Studies, told Politico after it reported that Reform might get rid of the triple lock.
For years it’s been clear to everyone who’s looked at the public finances that the triple lock is unsustainable – and increasingly unfair given that so much of the extra money goes to the already wealthy.
If Farage really does commit to replacing the triple lock with a more sustainable alternative, it will not only be an extremely welcome – and courageous – move, but would allow Reform to depict themselves as the real party of fiscal discipline.
Updated at 08.11 EST
Farage says fees paid to firms managing public sector pensions ‘exorbitant’, as he implies workers would not lose out
At the start of his Q&A Farage was also asked if his comments about defined benefit pensions (see 10.12am and 11.51am) meant that people like teachers, police officers and NHS staff would get their pensions cut under a Reform government.
Farage rejected the premise of the question.
But he said, in the councils it runs, Reform had discovered that the authorities were paying “exorbitant fees to the pensions industry”. He claimed the pension funds could be better administered. And he said Richard Tice would say more on this in a speech later this week.
In response to the first question during his Q&A, which was about whether people would trust Reform UK now that it has ditched its manifesto tax promises, Farage claimed the party was being responsible. He said:
I would say this to you, we are being mature, we are being sensible and we are not over promising.
But for us not to take account of the dire state of our public finances, that, I think, would be irresponsible.
Do we want to have a smaller state? Yes. Are we going to cut the benefits bill? Yes. Will the civil service be smaller? Yes. Will we get a grip on public sector pensions? Yes.
But we can’t have massive tax cuts until the markets can say we’ve at least got these things in hand.
ShareFarage claims Reform UK not ‘one-man band’, but says it’s ‘not ready’ to announce who its chancellor would be
Q: [From the Guardian’s Pippa Crerar] Who would be your chancellor – Richard Tice, Zia Yusuf, or someone else? Do you still support PR? And, if you are breaking promises, doesn’t that make you look like other parties?
Farage pushes back at the idea that he has gone back on has promises. He says the policies in the 2024 manifesto were just “aspirations”. He says today he is being realistic “about the state of the economy”.
As for who the chancellor might be, or who the home secretary might be, Farage says: “This is a work in progress.” He said Reform has been attracting high-profile recruits. He goes on:
There’ll be more announcements in the next couple of weeks of people with expertise. No speculation about defections here …
And what I’ve tried to do really hard this year is to get away from this idea, this criticism, that somehow it’s a one-man band. It’s not a one-man band. It’s a broadening team.
He cites David Bull, the party chair, Richard Tice, the deputy leader, MPs Lee Anderson and Danny Kruger, and the policy chief Zia Yusuf sitting in the audience as members of this team. And there will be more and more as time goes on, he says.
As we develop and build that team, we’ll start to give people labels. Right now, we’re not ready.
But he says all the press conferences the party is holding shows it is developing thinking “in a wide range of areas”. He says Tice will give a speech on Wednesday.
He does not anwer the PR part of Pippa’s question.
That was the end of the Q&A.
Q: Do you still support nationalising utilities, and the steel industry?
Starmer says nationalisation should only be used in an emergency. But in the case of British Steel, that was justified, he says.
He also says he thinks Thames Water could be nationalised without any cost to the taxpayer.
Farage says there is an argument that the minimum wage is too high for younger workers. He suggests it should be lowered for that age group.
ShareFarage refuses to commit to keeping pensions triple lock
Q: [From Christopher Hope from GB News] Are you still committed to raising tax thresholds? And what will you do about the pension triple lock?
Farage says he wants to raise thresholds.
He says he thinks the election will come in 2027. And he does not know that state of the economy then, he says.
And he does not commit to keeping the pensions triple lock.
If I’m right, and that election comes in 2027, then the economy will be in an even worse state than any of us in this room could even predict. So how can anybody project on pensions or thresholds or any of those things between now and then?