Starmer: Farage's ‘fantasy' economics will lead to Liz Truss-style meltdown
Nigel Farage's 'fantasy' economics will lead to a Liz Truss-style economic meltdown, Sir Keir Starmer will warn, after the Reform UK leader set out his party's proposed policies.
The UK prime minister is expected to urge the public to reject Reform UK's calls to use 'family finances' as a gambling chip on 'unfunded' tax cuts.
Advertisement
This comes after the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said the party's pledge to increase the income tax personal allowance to £20,000 a year could cost between £50 to £80 billion a year.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage (Ben Whitley/PA)
Speaking at a press conference in central London on Tuesday, Mr Farage said his measures were 'aimed at British families' as he announced plans to scrap the two-child benefit cap and fully reverse the winter fuel payment cuts.
Responding to Mr Farage's speech, IFS deputy director Helen Miller said the announcements on winter fuel payments and the two-child benefit cap were 'dwarfed' by the change to income tax personal allowance.
On a visit to meet workers at a manufacturing business in the North West, Mr Starmer is expected to brand Mr Farage's policies a 'mad experiment'.
Advertisement
He will say: 'In opposition we said Liz Truss would crash the economy and leave you to pick the bill. We were right.
'And we were elected to fix that mess.
'Now in Government, we are once again fighting the same fantasy – this time from Nigel Farage.
'Farage is making the exact same bet Liz Truss did.
Advertisement
'That you can spend tens of billions on tax cuts without a proper way of paying for it.
'And just like Truss, he is using your family finances, your mortgage, your bills as a gambling chip on his mad experiment.
'The result will be the same.
'Liz Truss bet the house and lost.
Advertisement
'£45 billion in unfunded tax cuts, with no means to pay for them.
'Markets reacted, the economy tanked and we're all still paying the price for mortgages, rents and bills that spiralled out of control.
'I won't let that happen.
'Labour's Plan for Change has stabilised the economy, with growth at the fastest rate in the G7 this year, four cuts to interest rates, and a pay boost for 3.5 million low paid workers.'
Advertisement
Short-lived Conservative prime minister Ms Truss' mini-budget spooked the financial markets in 2022 and led to a spike in mortgage rates.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
20 minutes ago
- BBC News
New investment in Argyle has fallen through
Plymouth Argyle chairman Simon Hallett says proposed new investment in the club has fallen who first invested in the Pilgrims in 2016 and became majority shareholder two years later, had agreed in principle to sell a stake in the club to new in a statement following confirmation that head coach Miron Muslic has joined German side Schalke, Hallett says the deal is comes a month after Argyle were relegated from the Championship, having finished 23rd in the second tier."We have been in talks with a prospective new investor in our club for over a year - those talks led to an application for approval of that investment being lodged with the EFL in February," he said."Unfortunately, negotiations have taken too long and the key information that both we and the EFL required to complete the deal has not been forthcoming. I no longer believe that news of the new investor is imminent." Hallett says he and the club's existing shareholders - Argyle Green and the Holliday family - will match the level of funding they had planned with the new investor for this season, a level he says is twice the budget the club had when they won League One in Hallett's ownership, Argyle have redeveloped the Mayflower Grandstand and are helping to fund new academy facilities at what was the also bought land adjacent to Home Park to improve the first team's training facilities."I completely understand that this will be very frustrating for fans, as it is extremely frustrating for me and the rest of the Argyle board," he added."I have said constantly that my resources can enable us to be a sustainable Championship club, but that if we wish to aspire beyond that we would need new investment. I can provide some of that new investment, with the Holliday family's and Argyle Green's help, but not all."While progress towards a transaction in its current form looks to have stalled, we will continue to explore alternative routes, including being open to revised terms with other investment groups."It is important we get the right investor, not the quickest investor, and this may take some time. We are committed to this, but in the meantime, current shareholders can (and will) support the club through its next stage of development."
Sky News
24 minutes ago
- Sky News
Prison officer stabbed at HMP Long Lartin 'with knife brought in from outside jail'
A prison officer who received emergency treatment after being attacked at a high security jail was stabbed with a weapon from outside of prison, Sky News understands. The 25-year-old officer was airlifted to hospital after allegedly being attacked by an inmate who used a knife that wasn't made inside the jail, which is otherwise known as an "improvised" weapon. It is not known how the weapon was brought into the prison. However a recent inspection of HMP Long Lartin in Worcestershire described the "incursion of drones" as "an increasingly critical problem" for the jail, and a "threat" that was "unsettling" for staff. The officer is in a stable condition following the attack on Friday morning but underwent emergency surgery, after sustaining what West Mercia Police described as serious injuries. A 22-year-old suspect is being held in custody within the prison. West Mercia Police Assistant Chief Constable Grant Wills said on Friday that the incident was not being treated as terrorism. He added: "Our initial enquiries suggest there was a disagreement between an inmate and prison officer that escalated and is an isolated matter within the prison." This was the third attack at a Category A, high security jail, in less than two months. In April, the Manchester Arena bomb plotter Hashem Abedi allegedly assaulted prison officers using hot cooking oil and a homemade weapon while in a separation centre, which are used to house extremist and violent offenders. At HMP Belmarsh, Southport killer Axel Rudakubana has been accused of throwing boiling hot water over an officer through the hatch in his cell door earlier this month. There were 10,605 assaults on staff in the year to December 2024, a 15% increase on the year before, marking a record high. The government says the safety of frontline staff is a top priority and has commissioned a series of reviews to consider increased protection for officers, including stab-proof vests and the use of Tasers in certain situations. The independent reviewer of terrorism, Jonathan Hall KC, has also been appointed to carry out a review of the alleged Abedi attack at HMP Frankland, to consider whether separation centres are fit for purpose. A Prison Service spokesperson said: "Police are investigating an attack on a prison officer at HMP Long Lartin.
Daily Mail
27 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Thousands of women with incurable breast cancer thrown a lifeline - doctors say hope is now possible
A first-of-its-kind daily pill that slows the spread of aggressive breast cancer is set to revolutionise the treatment of thousands, experts say. A trial has found that the drug, vepdegestrant, is twice as effective as existing treatments at extending the lives of patients with incurable breast cancer—buying them precious time with loved ones. Experts say that vepdegestrant also has far fewer side effects than medicines used on the NHS, and can be taken at home. One in seven women in the UK are diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime—around 56,000 a year—making it the most common cancer in the UK. While nine out ten patients survive, the disease still claims the lives of more than 11,000 annually. Around two-thirds of breast cancer patients in the UK have a form of the disease called ER positive HER-2 negative breast cancer. Of these, up to half with an advanced form can develop a genetic mutation which makes their cancer resistant to treatment. Patients who get this mutation—called ESR1—typically have less than two years to live. Currently, these patients receive a once-a-month injection called fulvestrant, which stops cancer cells from feeding off oestrogen, the female sex hormone that research shows helps tumours to grow. However, fulvestrant, which has to be adminstered by a healthcare professional, has a number of uncomfortable side effects including hot flushes, nausea and muscle pain. In some cases, it can also damage the liver. Even then, the injection can only keep the disease at bay for, on average, two months, the trial showed. And only a fifth of fulvestrant patients go six months without their cancer spreading. But the vepdegestrant trial, presented at the American Society for Clinical Oncology conference in Chicago, found that the tablet halted the spread of breast cancer for, on average, five months. Moreover, nearly half of the 300 patients given vepdegestrant went six months without their cancer spreading. The study found that the drug, which also blocks cancer cells from consuming oestrogen, has no major side effects. Experts say it is too soon to say exactly how much longer vepdegestrant patients live than those on fulvestrant, but they expect the difference to be significant. The drug is already being fast-tracked for use in the US and has been sent for approval in the UK. Experts believe it could get the greenlight in the UK because it is so much better than the existing options. 'Fulvestrant is incredibly painful and uncomfortable for patients, the majority of whom are forced to have to come to the clinic for it,' says Professor Komal Jhaveri, an oncologist at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre in New York. 'Oral tablets can be taken at home.' Dr Jane Meisel, a medical oncology professor at Emory University in Georgia, said: 'This drug will be a very exciting option for patients that could transform treatment.' Given it can be taken at home, does not leave patients suffering debilitating side effects, 'it's definitely the first of its kind', she added.
