Nigel Farage has unveiled Reform UK’s new manifesto, and it’s sparked a firestorm. The party leader, fresh from local election wins and a by-election success in Runcorn and Helsby, announced the plans in the Daily Mail on Saturday.
💥 Big promises, big reactions
The manifesto includes pledges to scrap inheritance tax on estates under £2 million, ditch net zero targets, drop income tax for those earning under £20,000, fix the NHS and even bring back fracking.
But the response online was fierce. One user on X called the plans “unhinged and unserious,” while others pointed out they mostly benefit “people who already have mansions.” Critics also noted the manifesto lacks any real detail on how it plans to fix the NHS.
📉 Economist delivers a harsh verdict
But the biggest blow came from The Economist. It compared Reform’s policies to Liz Truss’s ill-fated 49-day premiership, which sent the markets into chaos in 2022.
“Reform’s policies add up to an agenda of fiscal recklessness that rivals, and may well exceed, the disastrous 49-day, hair-raising, market-tanking premiership of Liz Truss in 2022,” the magazine said.
It went on to estimate that a Reform UK government would cost the economy around £200 billion while only saving £100 billion, calling it a “colossal fiscal shock.”
The magazine suggested Reform UK would face three choices: “fiscal implosion, deep austerity or a hasty U-turn.”
🥊 ‘Fantasy economics’
Shadow Tory chancellor Mel Stride also piled on, branding the plans “fantasy economics.”
“Tens of billions in unfunded pledges. Anyone can promise giveaways, but responsible government means not making commitments you can’t keep. Reform would do exactly what Labour have done – pretend that there are no tough choices, then break every promise. #EconomicIlliteracy,” he wrote on X.
🗣️ Farage fires back
Farage, never one to back down, hit back: “I don’t usually respond to minor parties. But we will take no lessons from the very same people who tripled the national debt in 14 years. The Tory betrayal is such that I very much doubt you will keep your seat at the next general election.”
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