Nigel Farage ready for ‘fight' as he vows to defy Labour's net zero orders and open new coal mines in Wales
NIGEL Farage today vowed to defy Labour's Net Zero orders and open new coal mines in Wales.
The Reform chief declared he's ready to 'fight' Sir Keir Starmer to achieve his 'ambition to re-industrialise' the country, if he wins power in the Senedd next year.
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In Port Talbot, Mr Farage said he wants to revive the town's steel blast furnaces and use fuel from new coal mines to power them.
Net Zero zealot Ed Miliband announced a ban on new coal mining licenses in November last year.
But firing the starting gun on Reform's 11-month campaign for the Welsh parliament, Mr Farage argued that Labour's Westminster government wouldn't stop him in Cardiff.
The chief Brexiteer said: 'We can always have a fight, can't we?
'We can always have a fight and who knows, there may be situations where we just do things.
'We will have to cross that bridge when we come to it.'
In a bid to woo the Welsh and outflank Sir Keir from the traditional left, Mr Farage argued there are 'specific types of coal for certain uses that we still need in this country'.
The Reform leader blasted Labour for turning their nose up at local industry while continuing to import steel from abroad.
Mr Farage insisted his party can win the Senedd elections in May 2026 because Labour are 'really are failing in Wales'.
Having been in control of the Welsh parliament since its 1999 inception, the Reform boss said Sir Keir's party has 'nowhere to hide'.
YouGov's most recent polling of the Senedd, from last month, puts nationalist Plaid Cymru on 30 per cent, with Reform five points behind on 25.
Meanwhile, Labour has slumped to just 18 per cent, with only 40 per cent of those who voted for Sir Keir looking to do the same again.
Mr Farage said his party is 'rapidly' growing in Wales – but is still a 'work in progress' and doesn't yet have a candidate for the top job of First Minister.
The party leader added: 'Figures will emerge over the course of the next few months who through merit will no doubt be in a position where they can qualify to be our lead member.
'We are not at that point of evolution just yet.'
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The Guardian
27 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Public perceptions of Starmer and Farage are perhaps a bit hazy
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Times
28 minutes ago
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Nigel Farage vows to reindustrialise Wales in Port Talbot speech
Nigel Farage said his party chairman 'lost his rag' when he quit last week, as the Reform leader sought to draw a line under reports of infighting with the launch of his campaign to take power in Wales next May. In his first extended public appearance since Zia Yusuf's resignation and surprise return, Farage said he had 'forgiven' his colleague and pledged to build a 'much broader team' before elections to the Welsh Senedd next year. Farage said he had worked 'inseparably' alongside Yusuf but admitted the former chairman had 'lost his rag' when he abruptly quit Reform last Thursday. He said: 'Was I annoyed with Zia on Thursday? Well, I wasn't exactly chuffed … but, you know what? People make mistakes. He came back to me and honestly said, 'Look I'm really sorry'. And I've forgiven him. It's behind us, it's done.' 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He went on to say a Reform government in Cardiff would reopen coal mines in the south Wales valleys, as well as the mothballed blast furnaces at Port Talbot. 'Our ambition is to reindustrialise Wales,' Farage said. Farage criticised plans by the government and Tata, Port Talbot's Indian owner, to build a £1.25 billion electric arc furnace to replace its two blast furnaces, which were shut down last September. 'It is, by its name, using vast amounts of electricity in what is one of the most expensive industrial electricity markets in the world,' he said. However, Farage declined to set out a timetable for the reopening or rebuilding of a blast furnace at Port Talbot. Steel industry experts say restarting the existing furnaces is likely to be impossible and the Reform leader admitted his flagship policy was 'no easy thing' and would probably cost 'low billions' or more. 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He conceded that Reform was 'not quite at the point of evolution' where it could announce a candidate for first minister. Asked by The Times whether he was willing to fund his pledges by using the Welsh parliament's powers to levy additional taxes, Farage instead repeated his promise to cut 'excessive spending' from the public sector and proposed to seek private investment from multinational employers. Likening a Reform-led Wales to Ireland's booming Celtic Tiger economy of the 1990s and early 2000s, he said: 'One of the reasons Ireland was so successful in the 1990s wasn't just because of their tax rate but because they had a workforce with the right skills.'
Daily Mail
30 minutes ago
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