Nigel Farage has delivered the “brutal truth” to Labour while Reform pledged to boost defence spending by scrapping Net Zero.
Speaking from central London, the Reform UK leader laid into No10’s stance on the escalating regional conflict across the Middle East after Sir Keir Starmer refused to join offensive action on Iran and initially denied the US use of RAF bases.
Previously, Mr Farage urged the Prime Minister to “do all we can” to support US-Israeli action against Tehran, while his deputy, Richard Tice, echoed a similar view.
However, a week later, the Clacton MP backtracked and said the UK should not join the war, saying “we certainly don’t have the capability to offer anything of any value to the Americans or the Israelis”.
In the face of the war, Reform has vowed to boost defence spending to resuscitate Britain’s Armed Forces and military capability — a weakness that has been highlighted by the spiralling conflict.
After an Iranian-made drone targeted RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus on the second day of the war, Sir Keir announced a Type 45 Destroyer, HMS Dragon, would be deployed to defend the airbase.
However, the PM fell under staggering scrutiny when the warship remained docked in Portsmouth for almost a week before setting off for the eastern Mediterranean. Now, six days later, the vessel has reached Gibraltar.
Grilling Reform on where the party would source the funds to pour into defence, GB News’s Chief Political Correspondent Katherine Forster said: “You’ve said that we ought to help in the Strait of Hormuz, but we can’t because our Armed Forces are so denuded.
Nigel Farage slapped down Labour with a ‘brutal truth’
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“You’ve talked about the need to increase defence spending. How would a Reform Government pay for that? It’s going to need huge amounts of money.”
Mr Farage responded: “Look, the brutal truth is that if you strip out the things that are not directly involved with defence or with providing equipment, you know, for the budget for next year, our defence spending is going to be about 2.2 per cent of our overall budget.
“That is historically incredibly low.
“I really think the fact that the French Navy, the Greek Navy, and even the Spaniards have sent naval vessels to defend British sovereign territory in Cyprus, and that it’s going to take us three weeks to get a single vessel there.
Katherine Forster grilled Nigel Farage on defence spending
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“If that’s not a wake up call for a changing and a shifting of our priorities, I don’t know what is.”
Mr Farage explained the money would be shifted from funding Net Zero, which Reform has promised to throw out if they win the keys to Whitehall at the next election.
“You’ve heard already [scrapping net zero] could save the Government as much £25billion to £30billion a year,” he added.
“But look, the brutal truth is that we just can’t go on with the benefits bill – over £300 billion.
“And that is going to involve some very, very tough choices. And there would be people that don’t like what needs to be done.
“But I’m afraid it has to be done and we will have the courage to face up to that, however loud some of the screams may be.”
However, last week, Chief of the Defence Staff, Sir Richard Knighton, insisted the UK was not unprepared ahead of the Iran war, despite numerous cries for Labour to bolster British defence.
He said: “For several weeks now, we’ve been bolstering our presence and the forces in the Middle East, particularly at Cyprus.
“And doing that in consultation with our regional partners, we’ve added additional typhoons, F-35s, over 400 people to help protect and defend the airspace around Cyprus.”