Nigel Farage is set to rule out tax cuts until public spending is under control as he lays out Reform UK’s plans to get a grip on the Britain’s finances.
The Reform UK leader will deliver a speech in London today, in which he is expected to row back from his party’s 2024 promise to cut £90billion of taxes.
The Clacton MP will say Labour and the Tories have “wrecked the public finances” and Reform would need to get public spending under control first to bring Britain’s borrowing costs down.
Reform’s manifesto committed the party to tax cuts worth around a third of the NHS budget, including raising the personal allowance to £20,000, introducing a £100,000 tax-free allowance for companies and exempting some high street firms from business rates.
Mr Farage is expected to pledge to form “the most pro-business” Government in British history if his party comes to power and argue the UK has not made the most of Brexit.
According to reports, he will say: “The harsh truth is that regulations and regulators, in many areas, are worse than they were back in 2016.”
Promising to “free businesses to get on and make more money”, he will say: “Reform UK will do things very differently.
“We will be the most pro-business, pro-entrepreneurship government this country has seen in modern times.
“This will mean more well-paid jobs for workers.”
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WATCH: Chris Philp says Reform’s ‘numbers don’t add up’ as he slams party’s commitment to scrap two-child benefit cap
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said Reform UK’s numbers “don’t add up” as he slammed the party’s pledge to scrap the two-child benefit cap as “completely unfair”.
The Croydon South MP told GB News: “At the last election, Reform had a manifesto I think with 10s of billions – possibly even £100billion – of unfunded commitments.
“Even today Reform are proposing to actually increase welfare spending in fact we should be cutting welfare spending.
“They propose to get rid of the two-child benefit cap so hardworking taxpayers who can’t afford to have more than two children themselves, have to pay taxes so somebody else can have four, five or six children. That is completely unfair.
“Reform are completely wrong about that. It is not only unfair and immoral to have hardworking taxpayers subsidise somebody else to have five kids it is also financially irresponsible as well. Their numbers I’m afraid don’t add up.”
Transport Secretary says major incident declared after train derailed in Cumbria
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said a major incident had been declared following a train derailment near Shap in Cumbria but “there are no reported injuries”.
National Rail said the train had left the tracks between Penrith and Oxenholme.
The ambulance service said in a statement: “Following reports of a train derailment near Shap in Cumbria, the trust has dispatched resources to the scene.
“We are currently assessing the situation and working with other members of the emergency services.
“Our priority is to ensure people receive the medical help they need as quickly as possible.”
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Chris Philp calls for ‘tough and radical action’ following train stabbing
Chris Philp says ‘tough and radical action’ is needed to tackle knife crime in Britain
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PA
The Shadow Home Secretary says “tough and radical action” is needed to tackle knife crime in Britain following the mass stabbing on a train on Saturday.
Writing in The Telegraph, Chris Philp said: “What happened on that train makes clear Britain is now long overdue a serious overhaul of how we tackle the scourge of violence and knife crime.
“The Government must now take urgent action to restore confidence in policing and its ability to keep us safe.”
He added that more knife crime offenders needed to be jailed and called for stop and search to be “dramatically increased”.