Nigel Farage has launched an all-out attack on Labour via the Express over the pension triple lock, vowing Reform UK will fight to keep it.
In an exclusive opinion piece for the Daily Express, the Reform UK leader accused Labour of having values that are "rotten to the core" after Andy Burnham's decision this week to scrap the triple lock in 2030.
Farage's attack on Labour
Farage said the Prime Minister wants to launch a universal care service, a "noble enough ambition" but one which will be "eye-wateringly expensive" and far more than the country can afford. He said the country is "bankrupt", paying over £100bn a year just to service debts accrued by successive governments.
Rather than find savings from the "increasingly bloated balance sheet", Mr Burnham has instead looked at the fruits of elders' labour and decided they are "ripe for the picking", Farage wrote.
He said the Daily Express and its readers have campaigned valiantly to protect the triple lock, calling it a "fundamental social contract" and a promise made to generations who spent the best part of half a century working hard and building modern Britain.
Reform UK's pledge
Farage declared that Reform UK will keep the triple lock by prioritising British values. He pointed to billions wasted on "nonsensical vanity projects", including an expected £15.3bn to be spent on housing asylum seekers by the end of the decade. He said those who have come illegally must be deported immediately.
He also criticised foreign aid spending of some £200bn since 2010, with money passed to countries such as China and India despite both having bigger economies than Britain. He acknowledged that when a country is hit by natural disasters, such as the recent flooding in Nepal, Britain will always be there financially, but said foreign aid often ends up "flitted away on daft schemes" or lining the wallets of foreign despots.
Savings identified
On net zero, Farage said billions have been splurged on ill-thought-through policies, giving some of the highest energy prices in the world while driving manufacturing contracts and skilled jobs into the hands of overseas rivals. He noted Britain produces less than one per cent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions.
He said welfare payments have shot up exponentially since the pandemic, with many claimants "gaming the system". He said his Treasury spokesman, Robert Jenrick, has identified £50bn in welfare cuts that could be made while still caring for the sick and vulnerable, including £21bn by stopping welfare payments to foreign nationals.
Farage said Reform UK has identified £80bn in savings across the board, 13 times as much as abolishing the triple lock saves, meaning the party can afford to keep it as well as raise the tax-free personal allowance to £15,000.
Call for a general election
He said cutting spending is "politically inconvenient" for Mr Burnham, who is too worried about "scaring the horses". Instead, by going after pensioners, he has chosen to dive into the pockets of those who have spent a lifetime doing the right thing.
Farage told millions of pensioners reading the Daily Express that they are not alone, adding: "Reform UK hears you, we stand with you and we will fight for you." He said the issue should be settled now, not in 2030, and called for a general election.
