Nigel Farage has praised Angela Rayner as 'real' while promising to scrap the two-child benefit cap, in a speech aimed at attracting disaffected Labour voters. The Reform UK leader, known for his right-wing populism, is steering his party's economic platform leftwards.
Speaking in Westminster, Farage mocked Keir Starmer, Kemi Badenoch and Rachel Reeves, but offered rare compliments for the Deputy Prime Minister. 'At least she's real,' he said of Rayner. 'None of the rest of them are. I don't think she's lying on her CV – I'm not sure she's got a CV. She is who she is.'
Farage's promise to lift the two-child benefit cap puts him at odds with his own 2015 stance, when he advocated for such a cap under UKIP. He now argues the cap discourages larger families amid low birth rates. 'We believe lifting the two-child cap is the best thing to do,' he said, 'not because we support a benefits culture, but because for lower paid workers, this makes having children a little bit easier.'
Economists have questioned how Farage would fund his pledges, which include tax breaks for married couples. The Institute for Fiscal Studies estimates the total cost could reach £80 billion annually, nearly the entire education budget. Farage plans to pay for this by scrapping net-zero commitments, ending diversity schemes, and halting asylum-seeker hotel use, though analysts say his calculations are flawed.
Former Labour MP Jonathan Ashworth warned that Reform's economic plans would lead to 'an explosion in borrowing, pushing up mortgage rates or swingeing cuts in public services like the NHS.' He added that this is 'terrain Labour want to fight an election on,' suggesting Farage may have overreached. Jeremy Corbyn's former policy director Andrew Fisher noted the leftward shift makes sense to capture votes in Wales, London and Scotland.
