The policies Reform UK and Nigel Farage have announced this year

Yahoo

a day ago

After Reform UK's strong performance in May's local elections, Nigel Farage declared it was his party - not the Conservatives - who were now the main opposition to the Labour government.
And with the party riding high in the opinion polls - topping YouGov's latest voting intention tracker on 29% to Labour's 21% - it seems the public currently considers Reform as a genuine contender for power.
In a bid to capitalise on this and keep the momentum going, Farage has set out a number of policies in recent months. These build on the party's 'Our Contract with You' document it published before the July 2024 general election.
Here, Yahoo News UK looks at the main pledges made by Reform UK this year.
The winter fuel payment was previously available to anyone over state pension age. But in one of the Labour government's first major policy moves last summer, it limited access to the benefit, which is worth up to £300. The number of pensioners in receipt of the payment fell by around nine million.
It was an issue Labour campaigners were challenged about on the doorsteps during the local elections. Starmer subsequently signalled a partial U-turn, saying that "as the economy improves" he wanted to look at widening eligibility. He suggested details will come at a "fiscal event", likely to be the next budget in the autumn.
Watch: Economy will have to be 'strong enough' for U-turn on winter fuel, business secretary says
Reform has said it will "completely reinstate the winter fuel allowance across the board".
The two-child benefit cap, introduced by the Conservatives in 2017, prevents universal credit claimants from receiving additional benefits for a third or subsequent child born after 5 April, 2017.
Campaigners say the cap exacerbates child poverty and has had a minimal impact on birth rate or family size. The Child Poverty Action Group has said abolishing it would lift 350,000 children out of poverty and mean another 700,000 were in less deep poverty.
And that was what Farage has pledged to do. "Not because we support a benefits culture," he said. "But because we believe, for lower-paid workers, this actually makes having children just a little bit easier for them."
Abolishing it would cost £3.5bn. The government has said scrapping it is "not off the table" but the "costs are high".
"We are going to make big savings," Farage said as he pledged to get rid of "excessive costs".
"If we win the next election, we will scrap net zero, something that is costing the Exchequer an extraordinary £40bn-plus every year.
"There will be no more asylum hotels or houses of multiple occupancy. People who come here illegally, across the channel or on the back of lorries will not be allowed to stay.
"We will scrap the DEI agenda, which is costing the taxpayer up to £7bn a year throughout the public sector."
People start paying income tax after they have earned £12,750. Farage has pledged to lift this to £20,000, saying in April it would "incentivise" more people into work.
He admitted on Tuesday this would be "expensive" but that he "genuinely believes" it can be paid for from other savings.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) questioned this.
Stuart Adam, a senior economist at the research institute, said it would cost up to £80bn.
"Nigel Farage recommitted to increasing the income tax allowance to £20,000, which depending on details might cost £50bn [to] £80bn, relative to other policies where we might be talking [up to] £3bn each.
"As it stands, I don't think they have really set out how they would pay for such big giveaways. Of course, they don't have to do that yet, we're not yet at a general election. But at some point, if they're going to be a party of government, they would have to make those numbers add up."
Starmer seized on this, saying Farage's "fantasy" economics will lead to a Liz Truss-style economic meltdown.
Reform has pledged to cut taxes on cryptocurrencies.
Party chairman Zia Yusuf told reporters on Friday it would reduce capital gains tax on assets such as Bitcoin to 10% - from up to 24% currently - as part of a raft of reforms to how cryptocurrencies are governed.
Yusuf, who does not own cryptocurrency, claimed the cut could generate up to £1bn for the Treasury over a decade, and that it would encourage more use of such currency and persuade people to move their assets to the UK.
He also said Reform would allow people to pay tax in Bitcoin and establish a "Bitcoin reserve fund" to "diversify" the UK's reserve holdings.
The announcement came as Farage said Reform would begin accepting donations in cryptocurrency.
Last month, Farage said the NHS shouldn't be funded through tax.
"I do not want it funded through general taxation," he said. "It doesn't work. It's not working. We're getting worse bang for the buck than any other country, particularly out of those European neighbours.'
However, he refused to say what would pay for it instead, only saying Reform is looking at "how we get there". He has denied wanting to make people pay to visit a doctor.
Farage has pledged to renege on Starmer's agreements with the EU and on the future of the Chagos Islands.
The latter deal will see sovereignty of the islands handed over to Mauritius and the key Diego Garcia military base leased back for £101m a year. Farage has described it as "the worst deal I've ever seen in my life".
The agreement with the EU includes relaxing some border checks and working together in areas such as electricity, security, law enforcement and irregular migration. But Farage said it "betrays the very essence of Brexit".
Farage has declined to commit to keeping the "triple lock" on pensions.
This guarantees the state pension will rise each year by whichever is highest: the annual rate of inflation, average growth in earnings or 2.5%.
He would only say: "The triple lock for pensioners is not something we've addressed as yet. We will, between now and the next election. We are, as you can see, building out our policy platform."
Nigel Farage On Course For Commons Majority According To Latest Polls (HuffPost)
Opinion: The Conservatives are not yet finished, but they can no longer delay their next reinvention (The Telegraph)
Union boss warns Starmer over 'echoing the right' on immigration (The Indpendent)