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 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.
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.
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, Sir Keir is expected to brand Mr Farage's policies a 'mad experiment'.
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.
'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.
'£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.'
Short-lived Conservative prime minister Ms Truss' mini-budget spooked the financial markets in 2022 and led to a spike in mortgage rates.
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North Wales Chronicle
43 minutes ago
- North Wales Chronicle
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'With new state-of-the-art submarines patrolling international waters and our own nuclear warhead programme on British shores, we are making Britain secure at home and strong abroad, while delivering on our Plan for Change with 30,000 highly skilled jobs across the country.' The £15 billion investment into the warhead programme will back the Government's commitments to maintain the continuous-at-sea nuclear deterrent, build a new fleet of Dreadnought submarines and deliver all future upgrades. From the late 2030s, the fleet of up to 12 SSN-Aukus conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines will replace seven astute class attack submarines the UK is due to start operating. In response to the strategic defence review, the Government will also commit to: – Getting the armed forces to a stage where it would be ready to fight a war – Boosting weapons and equipment stockpiles and making sure there is capacity to scale up production if needed in a crisis or war – Buying up to 7,000 UK-built long-range weapons in a move due to support 800 defence jobs – Setting up a new cyber command and investing £1 billion in digital capabilities – More than £1.5 billion of additional funding to repair and renew armed forces housing. Sir Keir Starmer will say: 'From the supply lines to the front lines, this Government is foursquare behind the men and women upholding our nation's freedom and security. 'National security is the foundation of my Plan for Change, and this plan will ensure Britain is secure at home and strong abroad, while delivering a defence dividend of well-paid jobs up and down the country. 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Asked when the Army would reach the target of 73,000, Mr Healey said: 'We've narrowed the gap, but we've still got more people leaving than joining. 'The first job is to reverse that trend and then I want to see in the next parliament our ability to start to increase the number.' Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge said: 'All of Labour's Strategic Defence Review promises will be taken with a pinch of salt unless they can show there will actually be enough money to pay for them. 'Whereas, far from guaranteeing the funding, John Healey has been hung out to dry by Rachel Reeves. 'As recently as Thursday, Healey promised that defence spending would definitely hit 3%, but today he's completely backtracked. 'These submarines are not due to enter service till the late 2030s, so how can we have any confidence Labour will actually deliver them when they can't even sustain a policy on defence spending for more than 48 hours?' 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Powys County Times
44 minutes ago
- Powys County Times
UK to build up to 12 new attack submarines and invest £15bn in warheads
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Defence Secretary John Healey said: 'Our outstanding submariners patrol 24/7 to keep us and our allies safe, but we know that threats are increasing and we must act decisively to face down Russian aggression. 'With new state-of-the-art submarines patrolling international waters and our own nuclear warhead programme on British shores, we are making Britain secure at home and strong abroad, while delivering on our Plan for Change with 30,000 highly skilled jobs across the country.' The £15 billion investment into the warhead programme will back the Government's commitments to maintain the continuous-at-sea nuclear deterrent, build a new fleet of Dreadnought submarines and deliver all future upgrades. From the late 2030s, the fleet of up to 12 SSN-Aukus conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines will replace seven astute class attack submarines the UK is due to start operating. In response to the strategic defence review, the Government will also commit to: – Getting the armed forces to a stage where it would be ready to fight a war – Boosting weapons and equipment stockpiles and making sure there is capacity to scale up production if needed in a crisis or war – Buying up to 7,000 UK-built long-range weapons in a move due to support 800 defence jobs – Setting up a new cyber command and investing £1 billion in digital capabilities – More than £1.5 billion of additional funding to repair and renew armed forces housing. Sir Keir Starmer will say: 'From the supply lines to the front lines, this Government is foursquare behind the men and women upholding our nation's freedom and security. 'National security is the foundation of my Plan for Change, and this plan will ensure Britain is secure at home and strong abroad, while delivering a defence dividend of well-paid jobs up and down the country. 'This strategic defence review will ensure the UK rises to the challenge and our armed forces have the equipment they need that keeps us safe at home while driving greater opportunity for our engineers, shipbuilders and technicians of the future.' The Conservatives and Lib Dems questioned Labour's commitment to funding the promises it was making. The Government has previously set out its 'ambition to reach 3% in the next parliament', after meeting its pledge to ratchet up defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by April 2027. Mr Healey had said there was 'no doubt' the UK would reach 3% in an interview with The Times. But on Sunday, he sidestepped questions about whether he had any guarantee from the Treasury to provide the funding when asked on the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme. He said he does not expect to increase the number of people in the armed forces until the next Parliament amid a recruitment and retention crisis. Asked when the Army would reach the target of 73,000, Mr Healey said: 'We've narrowed the gap, but we've still got more people leaving than joining. 'The first job is to reverse that trend and then I want to see in the next parliament our ability to start to increase the number.' Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge said: 'All of Labour's Strategic Defence Review promises will be taken with a pinch of salt unless they can show there will actually be enough money to pay for them. 'Whereas, far from guaranteeing the funding, John Healey has been hung out to dry by Rachel Reeves. 'As recently as Thursday, Healey promised that defence spending would definitely hit 3%, but today he's completely backtracked. 'These submarines are not due to enter service till the late 2030s, so how can we have any confidence Labour will actually deliver them when they can't even sustain a policy on defence spending for more than 48 hours?' Lib Dem defence spokesperson Helen Maguire said: 'This signals absolutely the right intent about the need to bolster the UK's defences in the face of Putin's imperialism and Trump's unreliability. 'But this must come with a concrete commitment and detail on full funding. 'Labour's mere 'ambition' rather than commitment to reach 3% of GDP on defence leaves serious questions about whether the money for these projects will actually be forthcoming. 'The 2034 timeline suggests a worrying lack of urgency from the Government. 'Unless Labour commits to holding cross-party talks on how to reach 3% much more rapidly than the mid-2030s, this announcement risks becoming a damp squib.'
Glasgow Times
an hour ago
- Glasgow Times
UK to build up to 12 new attack submarines and invest £15bn in warheads
Significant investment in the UK nuclear warhead programme this parliament and maintaining the existing stockpile are among the 62 recommendations that the Government is expected to accept in full. But questions were also raised about its commitment to defence spending after the Defence Secretary could not confirm the Treasury had guaranteed funding to bring it up to 3% of GDP by 2034. Building the new submarines, which is part of the Aukus partnership with the US and Australia, will support 30,000 highly skilled jobs into the 2030s as well as 30,000 apprenticeships and 14,000 graduate roles across the next 10 years, the Ministry of Defence said. Defence Secretary John Healey said: 'Our outstanding submariners patrol 24/7 to keep us and our allies safe, but we know that threats are increasing and we must act decisively to face down Russian aggression. 'With new state-of-the-art submarines patrolling international waters and our own nuclear warhead programme on British shores, we are making Britain secure at home and strong abroad, while delivering on our Plan for Change with 30,000 highly skilled jobs across the country.' Defence Secretary John Healey said the UK 'must act decisively to face down Russian aggression' (Yui Mok/PA) The £15 billion investment into the warhead programme will back the Government's commitments to maintain the continuous-at-sea nuclear deterrent, build a new fleet of Dreadnought submarines and deliver all future upgrades. From the late 2030s, the fleet of up to 12 SSN-Aukus conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines will replace seven astute class attack submarines the UK is due to start operating. In response to the strategic defence review, the Government will also commit to: – Getting the armed forces to a stage where it would be ready to fight a war – Boosting weapons and equipment stockpiles and making sure there is capacity to scale up production if needed in a crisis or war – Buying up to 7,000 UK-built long-range weapons in a move due to support 800 defence jobs – Setting up a new cyber command and investing £1 billion in digital capabilities – More than £1.5 billion of additional funding to repair and renew armed forces housing. Sir Keir Starmer will say: 'From the supply lines to the front lines, this Government is foursquare behind the men and women upholding our nation's freedom and security. 'National security is the foundation of my Plan for Change, and this plan will ensure Britain is secure at home and strong abroad, while delivering a defence dividend of well-paid jobs up and down the country. 'This strategic defence review will ensure the UK rises to the challenge and our armed forces have the equipment they need that keeps us safe at home while driving greater opportunity for our engineers, shipbuilders and technicians of the future.' The Conservatives and Lib Dems questioned Labour's commitment to funding the promises it was making. The Government has previously set out its 'ambition to reach 3% in the next parliament', after meeting its pledge to ratchet up defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by April 2027. Mr Healey had said there was 'no doubt' the UK would reach 3% in an interview with The Times. But on Sunday, he sidestepped questions about whether he had any guarantee from the Treasury to provide the funding when asked on the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme. He said he does not expect to increase the number of people in the armed forces until the next Parliament amid a recruitment and retention crisis. Asked when the Army would reach the target of 73,000, Mr Healey said: 'We've narrowed the gap, but we've still got more people leaving than joining. 'The first job is to reverse that trend and then I want to see in the next parliament our ability to start to increase the number.' Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge said: 'All of Labour's Strategic Defence Review promises will be taken with a pinch of salt unless they can show there will actually be enough money to pay for them. 'Whereas, far from guaranteeing the funding, John Healey has been hung out to dry by Rachel Reeves. 'As recently as Thursday, Healey promised that defence spending would definitely hit 3%, but today he's completely backtracked. 'These submarines are not due to enter service till the late 2030s, so how can we have any confidence Labour will actually deliver them when they can't even sustain a policy on defence spending for more than 48 hours?' Lib Dem defence spokesperson Helen Maguire said: 'This signals absolutely the right intent about the need to bolster the UK's defences in the face of Putin's imperialism and Trump's unreliability. 'But this must come with a concrete commitment and detail on full funding. 'Labour's mere 'ambition' rather than commitment to reach 3% of GDP on defence leaves serious questions about whether the money for these projects will actually be forthcoming. 'The 2034 timeline suggests a worrying lack of urgency from the Government. 'Unless Labour commits to holding cross-party talks on how to reach 3% much more rapidly than the mid-2030s, this announcement risks becoming a damp squib.'
