Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has unveiled bold promises to fully restore winter fuel payments and scrap the two-child benefit cap—policies traditionally championed by the left. But Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner accused him of selling “jam tomorrow” and labelled him a “snake oil salesman,” insisting his pledges lack credibility and clear funding sources.
💷 Reform UK’s “left-wing” pivot According to The Telegraph, Farage plans a press conference next week to detail how he would fund these reversals. His chairman, Zia Yusuf, claims the cash would come from cutting the UK’s foreign aid budget, closing asylum hotels and axing green-subsidy schemes under net-zero policies. On Sunday with Trevor Phillips (Sky News), Phillips himself noted:
“The working class has found a new champion, who wants more welfare spending, more nationalisation, and more trade union power. His name? Nigel Farage. And he’s seven points ahead in the polls.”
🔥 Rayner’s blistering rebuttal Angela Rayner tore into Farage’s record on the LBC:
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“To give winter fuel payments to people who have millions in the bank is probably not a good idea… with all things Nigel Farage—snake oil salesman—it’s not real. He’s not said where the money is coming from, and therefore I wouldn’t believe a word he says on it.” She pointed out that Farage and his MPs failed to support Labour’s Employment Rights Bill, despite advocating for working-class protections.
'With all things Nigel Farage says, it's not real… he's not said where the money's coming from.'@AngelaRayner tells @BenKentish 'not to believe a word' the Reform leader says on child poverty. pic.twitter.com/9o5DfHpuxS
👊 Badenoch joins the attack Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch similarly dismissed Farage’s promises on Sky News:
“Nigel Farage is someone who is going to say whatever he can to get into power… We spent years chasing polls, telling people what they wanted to hear and not delivering.” When asked if Farage could actually govern, she replied: “Well, I hope not, because it would be very bad for this country.”
📊 Polls and prospects Recent YouGov data show Reform UK polling at 29%, ahead of Labour (22%), Lib Dems (17%) and Tories (16%). Farage’s shift toward welfare promises appears designed to woo disaffected working-class voters, though critics question whether his pledges are more than populist rhetoric.
⚖️ The credibility gap Promises to reverse unpopular cuts resonate with many. Yet without transparent costing and a legislative record to back them, Farage’s welfare U-turn risks being dismissed as political theatre. As Rayner warned, without a clear funding plan, voters may well view these pledges as little more than snake oil.
