Nigel Farage has launched Reform UK's election platform, which he describes as a 'contract' with the British public rather than a manifesto. The populist programme includes a pledge to abolish net zero targets entirely, introduce life imprisonment for convicted drug dealers, and implement wide-ranging personal tax cuts. Farage presented the proposals in Merthyr Tydfil, south Wales, claiming they represent a 'fundamental change' to Britain's economy and society.
The tax cuts include raising the income tax threshold to £20,000, abolishing stamp duty, and scrapping inheritance tax for estates under £2 million. Reform UK plans to fund these cuts by raising £40 billion from reducing interest paid on Bank of England reserves. However, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has cast doubt on the feasibility, stating the measure is 'unlikely to raise even half' that sum and that the party's tax and spending plans 'don't add up' by 'tens of billions of pounds per year'.
Other key policies include freezing 'non-essential' immigration, withdrawing from the European Convention on Human Rights, and returning illegal migrants to France. On law and order, the party backs mass stop-and-search powers. The document also targets social conservatives with a 25% transferable marriage tax allowance and pledges to support marriage. Culture war rhetoric features prominently, with claims that public institutions have been captured by 'woke' ideology and a requirement that teaching on British imperialism be balanced with non-European examples.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer dismissed the launch, insisting the election is a 'straight choice between Conservatives and Labour'. Conservative candidates criticised the plans, with former minister Matt Warman calling them 'the height of irresponsibility'. The TaxPayers' Alliance gave a qualified welcome but said details on spending cuts needed to be spelled out.
