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Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
The policies Reform UK and Nigel Farage have announced this year
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)
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
What are Reform UK's key policies, from immigration to taxes?
Reform UK has secured a dramatic by-election victory by six votes over Labour in Runcorn and Helsby as a former Tory minister became the party's first elected mayor. In one of the closest parliamentary votes ever, new MP Sarah Pochin took the seat that Labour won with a majority of almost 14,700 less than a year ago. The knife-edge result came after weeks in which Reform has been surging in popularity in nationwide polls and, in the first major electoral test since the 2024 general election, the party showed it is a force to be reckoned with. As more local election results trickled in on Friday, polling expert Sir john Curtice said that Reform UK were now 'in business' on what looked to be a significant set of results for the party. "The big question we were looking to these elections to answer was, the message of the opinion polls is that Reform are now posing a big threat to both Conservative and Labour, neck and neck with them according to the polls. 'Is that really true? And I think we now already know that the answer to that question is 'yes'. 'Ukip never managed to win a parliamentary by-election afresh in the way that Reform have managed to do in Runcorn.' Sir John said Reform had put in 'some quite remarkable performances' as the more evenly spread vote was not a disadvantage to them at local level. He added: 'Reform are in business. They are a major challenge.' Labour has suffered from a significant backlash in recent months with the winter fuel allowance, disability benefits and small boat crossings being raised by voters as major issues ahead of the local elections. A sluggish economy also remains a factor. According to Ipsos Mori, 73% of Britons describe the current state of the economy as "poor". Among those who view the economy negatively, the decisions of Keir Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves are seen as the biggest contributing factor by 56% of people. The Conservatives have struggled to regain ground since their crushing defeat last year, with many still distrustful of them following their 14 years in power. Reform has has made immigration front and centre of its platform and has been particularly critical of the small boats crossing the Channel. Immigration overtook health as the second most important issue to voters last summer. According to YouGov, 44% of voters say immigration is the most important issue facing the country, with the economy in first at 54%. Prior to the election, Luke Tryl, executive director at More in Common, said that among people who considered voting for Reform, there is a feeling of "we may as well roll the dice on getting something different". He added: "This is a disillusionment election, it's also a bit of a rolling the dice election and trying to send a signal to the powers that be election as well." Reform has 22 policy areas in its 'Our Contract with You' document on its website covering all areas of public life, but it narrows down to five key pledges to attract voters. These are cutting immigration, ending the boat crossings, ending NHS waiting lists, cutting taxes on working people and affordable energy bills. To cut immigration, they have pledged: To freeze non-essential immigration To deport and withdraw citizenship from all foreign nationals who have committed serious crimes Stop student visas allowing dependents to come with them Require five years of residency and employment to claim benefits Increase national insurance on foreign nationals working in non-critical industries To process all asylum seekers from a "safe country" rapidly and offshore "if necessary" without providing them with legal aid On cutting taxes for working people, they have pledged to increase the personal allowance from £12,570 to £20,000. They have also pledged to move the threshold for the higher rate from £50,271 to £70,000. Reform says this, along with a few other tax pledges like slashing stamp duty, would cost £70bn. To tackle NHS waiting lists, they say they will make all NHS staff and social care staff exempt from the basic tax rate for three years to attract more workers. They also say they will use more private healthcare to support the NHS and give tax relief to people who use private health insurance. Reform says this will cost £17bn. The party has said most of the cost of their pledges will be paid for by the new taxes on foreign workers and massive cuts to government spending. Economists dismissed some of Reform's election claims last year. The independent Institute for Fiscal Studies said at the time: "The claim that they could eliminate NHS waiting lists at a cost of £17 billion a year is demonstrably wrong, while the vast tax cuts would cost even more than stated, by a margin of tens of billions of pounds per year."
