REFORM UK leader Nigel Farage has tempered his party’s earlier pledge to deliver £90 billion in annual tax cuts, acknowledging that such sweeping reductions are not currently feasible.
Ahead of last year’s general election, Reform UK had promised a range of measures including cuts to corporation tax, reductions in stamp duty on home purchases, and raising the income tax threshold. However, speaking in a wide-ranging address on the party’s economic vision, Farage said “substantial tax cuts” were not realistic given the “dire state” of public finances.
“We want to cut taxes, of course we do,” he said. “But we understand substantial tax cuts, given the dire state of debt and our finances, are not realistic at this current moment in time.” He added that the economy is now “far worse than it was in the run-up to the 2024 general election.”
Farage suggested that, if Reform UK were to win the next general election, the party would pursue “relatively modest” changes. These would include raising income tax thresholds and immediately scrapping inheritance tax for family farms and family-run businesses. He described raising the point at which people start paying income tax to £20,000 as an “aspiration” and “vital” to incentivise work.
Addressing concerns over the credibility of reversing pre-election pledges during a Q&A session, Farage said: “We are being mature, we are being sensible and we are not over-promising. But for us not to take account of the dire state of our public finances, that, I think, would be irresponsible.”
In his speech, Farage also criticised both Labour and the Conservatives for failing to curb public spending, accusing them of allowing national debt to rise “in the most extraordinary way.”
The response from opposition parties was swift. Labour minister Lisa Nandy dismissed Reform UK’s calculations, saying: “You just can’t trust a word Reform say. Under any kind of pressure their whole programme is unravelling.”
Conservative shadow chancellor Mel Stride described Farage’s address as “rambling” and “incoherent,” adding: “Farage did not set out which of the £140 billion of commitments he made last year he still stands by, and which he has now dropped. After this speech, it is clear Reform’s economic policy is in chaos.”
