Reform UK’s deputy leader, Richard Tice, has hinted he’d shrink public spending to 35% of GDP—slashing a staggering £274 billion from government coffers. That figure outstrips Liz Truss’s infamous unfunded tax giveaways by more than five times.
🏥 NHS and frontline services at risk
Right now, the NHS budget stands at about £188.5 billion. MoD gets £54 billion, the Home Office £20 billion, and justice some £12 billion. Tice’s plan would effectively wipe out those pots—and leave hospitals, police and courts staring at the abyss.
🎲 “A dangerous game of roulette”
Labour’s Darren Jones slammed it as “reckless” and “chaos in the making.” He warned Reform’s tax-cut bonanza—coupled with Tice’s axe—would trigger another financial meltdown akin to the mini-Budget fiasco.
🗣️ Tice’s mid-90s nostalgia
On the Politics Inside Out podcast, Tice waxed lyrical about the mid-1990s. “At 35% of GDP, things were working more,” he claimed. “No one was saying the NHS is bust.” He didn’t explain how slashing billions won’t bust it now.
📊 Who pays and how?
Meanwhile, Farage insists he wouldn’t fund the NHS through general taxation. Instead, he favors private insurance—a policy that has reform backbenchers scratching their heads over who’ll pick up the bill.
🔍 Unfunded promises and rising bills
Labour analysis flags that Reform’s earlier £80 billion of unfunded pledges could spike an average family’s mortgage by £5,500 a year. Higher borrowing usually pushes up interest rates, energy bills and rents.
❓ The big question
With Reform’s competing messages—more spending vs. massive cuts—voters are left wondering: what exactly would get the chop? And will Tice ever publish a spreadsheet?
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