Latest news with #ZiaYusuf
Glasgow Times
8 hours ago
- Business
- Glasgow Times
Reform UK to send first ‘Doge' team to look at council spending
A team of software engineers, data analysts and forensic auditors will 'visit and analyse' local authorities, starting with Kent County Council on Monday, the party said. It follows the US Doge, which was launched during Donald Trump's presidency to cut federal spending. Billionaire Musk was involved but has since left his position spearheading the unit. Reform says its UK version will be led by a yet-unnamed man described as one of the country's 'leading tech entrepreneurs with a specialism in data analytics who has also been a turnaround CEO'. Elon Musk spearheaded the US Doge (Kirsty Wigglesworth/PA) The party said that the unit will use artificial intelligence, advanced data analysis tools and forensic auditing techniques to 'identify wasteful spending and recommend actionable solutions'. A letter sent to Kent County Council, which Reform now controls after the May local elections, read: 'The scope of the review includes but is not limited to: Contractual arrangements with suppliers and consultants, all capital expenditure, use of framework agreements and direct awards, any off-book or contingent liabilities, use of reserves and financial resilience, any audit flags raised by internal or external auditors in the last three years. 'We request that all relevant council officers provide the Doge team with full and prompt access to: Council-held documents, reports and records (electronic and paper), relevant finance, procurement, audit and contract data, meeting minutes and correspondence concerning major procurements, any internal investigations or whistleblowing reports relevant to financial matters, any additional documents that might be of assistance.' It added: 'Should you resist this request, we are ready to pass a council motion to compel the same and will consider any obstruction of our councillors' duties to be gross misconduct. We trust this will not be required.' It is signed by council leader Linden Kemkaran, party chairman Zia Yusuf and party leader Nigel Farage. Reform UK party chairman Zia Yusuf (Ben Whitley/PA) Mr Yusuf said: 'For too long British people have been British taxpayers have watched their money vanish into a black hole. 'Their taxes keep going up, their bin collections keep getting less frequent, potholes remain unfixed, their local services keep getting cut. Reform won a historic victory on a mandate to change this. 'As promised, we have created a UK Doge to identify and cut wasteful spending of taxpayer money. Our team will use cutting-edge technology and deliver real value for voters.' During a local election campaign launch in March, Mr Farage told supporters: 'Frankly folks, what we need in this country to pay for the cuts that people deserve and need, we need a British form of Doge, as Elon Musk has got in America. Let's have a British Doge.' A Kent County Council spokesman declined to comment.
Western Telegraph
10 hours ago
- Business
- Western Telegraph
Reform UK to send first ‘Doge' team to look at council spending
A team of software engineers, data analysts and forensic auditors will 'visit and analyse' local authorities, starting with Kent County Council on Monday, the party said. It follows the US Doge, which was launched during Donald Trump's presidency to cut federal spending. Billionaire Musk was involved but has since left his position spearheading the unit. Reform says its UK version will be led by a yet-unnamed man described as one of the country's 'leading tech entrepreneurs with a specialism in data analytics who has also been a turnaround CEO'. Elon Musk spearheaded the US Doge (Kirsty Wigglesworth/PA) The party said that the unit will use artificial intelligence, advanced data analysis tools and forensic auditing techniques to 'identify wasteful spending and recommend actionable solutions'. A letter sent to Kent County Council, which Reform now controls after the May local elections, read: 'The scope of the review includes but is not limited to: Contractual arrangements with suppliers and consultants, all capital expenditure, use of framework agreements and direct awards, any off-book or contingent liabilities, use of reserves and financial resilience, any audit flags raised by internal or external auditors in the last three years. 'We request that all relevant council officers provide the Doge team with full and prompt access to: Council-held documents, reports and records (electronic and paper), relevant finance, procurement, audit and contract data, meeting minutes and correspondence concerning major procurements, any internal investigations or whistleblowing reports relevant to financial matters, any additional documents that might be of assistance.' It added: 'Should you resist this request, we are ready to pass a council motion to compel the same and will consider any obstruction of our councillors' duties to be gross misconduct. We trust this will not be required.' It is signed by council leader Linden Kemkaran, party chairman Zia Yusuf and party leader Nigel Farage. Reform UK party chairman Zia Yusuf (Ben Whitley/PA) Mr Yusuf said: 'For too long British people have been British taxpayers have watched their money vanish into a black hole. 'Their taxes keep going up, their bin collections keep getting less frequent, potholes remain unfixed, their local services keep getting cut. Reform won a historic victory on a mandate to change this. 'As promised, we have created a UK Doge to identify and cut wasteful spending of taxpayer money. Our team will use cutting-edge technology and deliver real value for voters.' During a local election campaign launch in March, Mr Farage told supporters: 'Frankly folks, what we need in this country to pay for the cuts that people deserve and need, we need a British form of Doge, as Elon Musk has got in America. Let's have a British Doge.' A Kent County Council spokesman declined to comment.
Times
12 hours ago
- Business
- Times
Nigel Farage to send first ‘Doge' team into Kent council
Kent county council will become the first authority under Reform to face an Elon Musk-style Doge audit on Monday as a team of tech experts visit and analyse its spending. The party chairman's, Zia Yusuf, has assembled a unit modelled on Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency, which until recently was led by Musk. Reform said it will be led by a man it described as 'one of the UK's leading tech entrepreneurs' but has not named him. The party said he has a specialism in data analytics who has also been a 'turnaround CEO'. His team are software engineers, data analysts and forensic auditors. The new unit will visit and analyse all ten councils now controlled by Reform since the party's victory in last month's local elections. Kent county council has a budget of more than £2.5 billion. Nigel Farage declared that 'every county needs a Doge ' after Reform won 677 seats — 39 per cent of all seats up for grabs in the local elections last month. He claimed that cash was being wasted on consultants, climate change initiatives and 'areas that county councils frankly shouldn't even be getting involved in'. Linden Kemkaran, the Reform leader of Kent council, has written to Amanda Beer, its chief executive, about her intention to carry out a review of the council's finances, which is co-signed by Farage and Yusuf. It has requested information including 'contractual arrangements with suppliers and consultants, all capital expenditure, use of framework agreements and direct awards, any off-book or contingent liabilities, use of reserves and financial resilience and any audit flags raised by internal or external auditors in the last three years'. It also requests that all council officers provide the Doge team with 'full and prompt access' to council-held documents, reports and records in electronic and paper form, relevant finance procurement, audit and contract data, meeting minutes and correspondence concerning major procurements and any international investigations or whistleblowing reports relevant to financial matters. The letter states: 'Following the outcome of the recent local elections and the formation of a new administration under the Reform Party, the council's leadership has resolved to undertake a review of the council's 'financial management, procurement activity, and associated governance arrangements'. 'This review is part of Reform's commitment to transparency, accountability, the prudent management of public funds and the highest standards in public life. 'Conducting this work was a core part of Reform's local manifesto. We believe it is in the public interest to ensure that the council's financial and procurement systems are robust, lawful, and value-driven. 'To that end, Kent council has appointed the Doge team, a unit of software engineers, data analysts and forensic auditors to conduct this review on our behalf.' The letter warns that if the chief executive resists the request for the Doge-style audit, the party will pass a motion to 'compel the same and will consider any obstruction of our councillors duties to be gross misconduct'. The letter adds: 'We trust this will not be required.' Last week Farage said that an estimated £7 billion could be saved by scrapping 'diversity, equality and inclusion' initiatives across the public sector. One of Reform's new councillors recently said the party will also ask members of the public to track down wasteful spending rather than paying management consultants to do the exercise. Darren Grimes, 31, a newly elected county councillor for Durham and a former GB News presenter, said last month: 'We're not going to give vast sums to a stream of consultants from London's financial district — like giving PwC [the consulting firm] a shed sum of money.' His idea is to publish problematic contracts and allow councillors and members of the public to hunt for gremlins to 'get the best bang for the taxpayers' buck'. He added: 'I've been approached by many people with ideas and interest in scrutinising,' he said. 'We'll be transparent and allow people to look into the contracts that we find, and a lot of this advice [will be] given for free.'
Telegraph
15 hours ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Reform launches ‘Doge' council unit
Reform UK will launch a new 'Doge' council unit to crack down on waste and inefficiency. Nigel Farage's party has assembled a team of software engineers, data analysts and forensic auditors, which will visit each of the 10 councils Reform controls – starting with Kent on Monday – to look at ways to save money. The group, appointed by Zia Yusuf, the Reform chairman, is modelled on Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency in the US. It will be headed by a leading tech entrepreneur. Reform has not yet named him, although the party says he has a specialism in data analytics and has also been a turnaround chief executive. The announcement comes a month after Reform gained its first foothold in local government when it seized control of eight local authorities from the Tories and two from Labour. Mr Yusuf said: 'For too long, British taxpayers have watched their money vanish into a black hole. Their taxes keep going up, their bin collections keep getting less frequent, potholes remain unfixed, their local services keep getting cut. 'Reform won a historic victory on a mandate to change this. As promised, we have created a UK Doge to identify and cut wasteful spending of taxpayer money. Our team will use cutting edge technology and deliver real value for voters.' Mr Farage told the BBC after the local elections: 'I think every county needs a Doge. I think local government has gone under the radar for too long. 'We've seen the high-profile cases of Croydon, of Thurrock, where they've gone bankrupt, Birmingham indeed, where they've gone bankrupt.' Last week, Mr Musk stepped down from his role in the Trump administration, days after he had attacked the US president's spending plan by claiming it 'undermines' his Doge work. The Reform 'Doge' team's first visit will be to Kent, where it won more than two thirds of the seats in May. The county council has a gross budget of more than £2.5 billion. Linden Kemkaran, the Reform council leader, has written to Amanda Beer, the chief executive, to announce her intention to undertake a review of the council's 'financial management, procurement activity, and associated governance arrangements'. 'This review is part of Reform's commitment to transparency, accountability, the prudent management of public funds and the highest standards in public life,' the letter states. 'Conducting this work was a core part of Reform's local manifesto. We believe it is in the public interest to ensure that the council's financial and procurement systems are robust, lawful, and value-driven. To that end, Kent council has appointed the Doge team, a unit of software engineers, data analysts and forensic auditors to conduct this review on our behalf.' The review will look at contractual arrangements with suppliers and consultants, all capital expenditure, any off-book or contingent liabilities, the use of reserves and financial resilience, and any problems flagged by internal or external auditors in the last three years. The team has demanded access to all relevant documents, reports, records, data, minutes and correspondence, as well as 'any internal investigations or whistleblowing reports relevant to financial matters'. The letter warns: 'Should you resist this request, we are ready to pass a council motion to compel the same and will consider any obstruction of our councillors duties to be gross misconduct. We trust this will not be required.' Last week, Reform announced plans to axe gold-plated pension schemes for council staff. Richard Tice, the deputy leader, said final-salary pension schemes would end in the councils it now controls, describing them as an 'outrage'. He said the money would be redirected to improving council services such as bin collections. The party has also pledged to reduce spending on diversity, equality and inclusion schemes and called for an attack on government waste to save £5 out of every £100.
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Starmer says Farage would spook the City and give us Truss 2 – he could be right
The message Zia Yusuf wanted to send was clear. With a backdrop of the City of London behind him, from the 34th floor of the Shard, the Reform UK chair laid out an economic policy designed to show his party meant business. In a briefing over a full English breakfast for some of the nation's journalists on Friday morning, Yusuf reiterated an announcement the Reform leader, Nigel Farage, had made overnight from another hotel 5,000 miles away in Las Vegas: the party would now accept donations in bitcoin, and if elected to power would make tax and regulatory changes to bolster Britain's adoption of cryptocurrency. As far as settings go for a press conference, commanding views over St Paul's Cathedral and the banks and asset managers of the Square Mile, it is straight out of the Westminster playbook, even if the policy idea is pure Donald Trump. However, the trouble with Yusuf's message to the City was not the questionable credibility of crypto – viewed with unease at the Bank of England as the wild west of finance – but the party's broader tax and spending policies. Riding high in the opinion polls, scrutiny of Reform and its plans for the economy is growing – led this week by an attack from Keir Starmer who claimed that Farage's tax and spending policies were grounded in the same 'fantasy economics' used to devastating effect by Liz Truss. The accusation Labour makes is that Yusuf and Farage would spook the City with unfunded tax cuts, sparking a meltdown akin to the ill-fated former prime minister's mini-budget. And despite the posturing from the heights of the Shard, the verdict from many economists is that Starmer could have a point. Reform has made expansive tax pledges worth at least £60bn – with most of the costs relating to a promise to raise the income tax personal allowance to £20,000 a year, a substantial increase on its current £12,570. Reform has also pledged to increase the threshold for the 40% higher rate of income tax in England from £50,271 to £70,000. In the argument about whether Reform's sums add up, Richard Tice, the party's finance spokesperson, has suggested most politicians have no idea about the Laffer curve. Named after the US economist Arthur Laffer, it is an illustration of a theory that there are optimal tax rates at which government revenue is maximised. The idea is that tax cuts could stimulate economic activity, thus bringing in more revenue. While a tax rate of 100% would clearly stop dead economic activity, the idea that tax cuts pay for themselves has also been widely debunked including by Greg Mankiw, the chair of the Council of Economic Advisers under George W Bush, who has described Laffer advocates as 'charlatans and cranks'. Tice acknowledges that there is an 'optimum point', while Yusuf said that in government Reform would prioritise tax cuts 'in the right sequential order and make sure that the numbers add up'. Many economists, too, warn tax rises announced by Labour will undermine economic growth. However, the criticism remains that Reform has mostly promised sweeping tax giveaways without credible corresponding measures to avoid widening the country's already £100bn-plus budget deficit and £2.7tn debt pile. Add to this Britain's low economic growth rate, above-target inflation, elevated national debt and rising borrowing costs for governments around the world linked to investor fears over Donald Trump's trade war, and the argument is that room for additional borrowing is pretty slim. After Farage's welfare pledges this week, the Institute for Fiscal Studies said Reform's announced fiscal policies so far would cost the exchequer between £60bn and £80bn a year in foregone income and additional outlays. The IFS warned this was not yet balanced by corresponding spending cuts or tax rises elsewhere, which it said would be needed for the plan to be implementable. Yusuf said Reform's plans were a work in progress and were liable to change as the party developed its 2029 manifesto. 'You shouldn't just transfer or copy and paste all of that [policies from the 2024 document] into an assumption about what the manifesto would be for the next general election,' he added. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion It could be a fair point given the distance to the next election, and how much the economy is likely to change between now and then. Labour also stands accused of reneging on its early 2024 promises. However, voters may expect better from a putative party of government – especially one trading on public anger at politicians for moving the goalposts. However, Yusuf insisted that savings could credibly be made from 'scrapping net zero', slashing overseas aid to zero, stripping 5% from 'quango spending' each year and removing all funding for 'asylum hotels'. 'The numbers I just gave you there add up to 78 odd billion, right? And that would be £350bn-£400bn over the course of Nigel's first term,' he said. 'Economists at the Institute for Government have questioned whether these savings would ever be deliverable, highlighting that most of the £45bn of net zero savings promised by Reform was money being spent not by the government, but the private sector. When Truss brought forward her mini-budget, she used a Treasury document running to more than 40 pages to justify her tax plans – yet still tested the confidence of City investors. For Reform, there could be a danger of history repeating.
