NIGE’S CONTRACT
Farage vows to stop boats in 100 days to ‘end population explosion’ in tax-cutting manifesto targeting Labour heartlands
The Reform leader pledged 'genuine change' as part of his 'contract'
NIGEL Farage today unveiled huge tax slashes and vowed to end the "population explosion" as part of his “contract with the people”.
The Reform leader launched the “Great British Tax Cut” as he declared Britain "skint" - and claimed said he would end the small boats crisis in 100 days.
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Farage, 60, said once again his "unashamedly radical" party would be the “real opposition” to the Conservatives and pledged to offer “real, genuine change” in a dig at Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour and PM Rishi Sunak.
The Reform leader, alongside chairman Richard Tice, launched the document – titled "Our Contract With You" – in a run-down community centre in Gurnos, South Wales.
He said the building showed "exactly what happens to a country when Labour is in charge" as he repeated the claim Britain was "skint".
Farage has repeatedly refused to call his pledges a “manifesto”, blasting that the word is “associated with lies” for other political parties.
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In the 'contract', Reform said they would end small boats crossing the channel within 100 days, slash income and corporation tax, leave the ECHR and cut funding to woke universities that threaten free speech.
He also said that under Reform the British Army would expand to at least 100,000 troops from its current 300-year low of 73,000.
Farage also promised to radically reform the benefits trap, which "massively disincentivises" going back to work.
And St. George's Day and St. David's Day would also become bonus bank holidays.
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At Reform UK's manifesto launch, Nigel Farage…
- Announced a new tax on employers who hire foreign workers
- Pledged to stop the boats by taking illegal migrants back to France
- Promised a “freeze” on non-essential immigration "to protect our culture and identity” Promised to leave the European Court of Human Rights
- Pledged to commence zero-tolerance policing, with drug dealing and trafficking crimes receiving life imprisonment
- Proposed to increase stop and searches “substantially” by recruiting 40,000 new cops in the next five years
- Pledged to force all job seekers to accept a job within four months, or after two job offers, or lose all of their benefits
- Promised to introduce a patriotic curriculum in primary and secondary schools including teaching European imperialism
- Vowed to make St George's Day and St David's Day extra bank holidays
- Pledged to increase defence spending to 3 per cent with 30,000 more full-time members of the Armed Forces
- Pledged to introduce a 25 per cent transferable tax allowance for married couples
- Vowed to increase the tax-free income tax allowance to £20,000
In a speech marking the launch of the document, he said: "The reason they voted for Brexit is we would get back control of our borders.
";And none of that has happened - in fact, the opposite has happened.
"Some people say to me, Nigel, that's a failure of Brexit. It isn't. It's the failure of a sovereign government."
He continued: "We are not pretending we are going to win this General Election.
"We are a relatively new party.
"This is the first step on our road to 2029. Our first step is to establish a bridge step in Parliament to become the opposition to a Labour government.
"Meanwhile the Conservatives are tearing themselves down the middle, especially when it comes to me".
He went on: "We believe in the family, we believe in the country.
"Our aim is to provide clear, consistent and growing leadership in the course of the next Parliament.
"I believe we should turn this into a mass movement of people... it seems highly, highly likely."
"We want to have a radical re-think of the way our public services are run, and yes, that includes the National Health Service.
"All we want, is an NHS that is free at the point of delivery, that actually works. How we get there, most people can't give a damn about."
"And we want the state to take far less of our money than it is currently doing."
Farage also blasted the Tories on immigration, fuming that they had promised for the "fifth manifesto in a row" to reduce net migration.
He continued: "One in 30 people on the street have come here in the last two years. We have never seen anything like this before.
"Labour, in their six key priorities, didn't even mention immigration.
"We believe an overall freeze on net migration is what we need for a few years, at least until we get back on track.
"We are doing what a sensible country would do, recognising that the first duty of a British government is to look after its own people."
And pledging to pull out of the ECHR, he said: "The only way to fully restore sovereignty and decide who can come in and who can stay is by leaving that European Court of Human Rights."
"It is completely out of date. It's not serving the purpose for which we signed up to it 70 years ago.
"We want to be a party that is on the side of working people."
Responding to accusations he's sacrificing Brexit by splitting the right and enabling a larger Labour majority, Mr Farage told The Sun: "I didn’t realise Lord Cameron was in favour of Brexit.
"I didn’t know Mr Heseltine was in favour of Brexit – these are the people outspokenly attacking me.
"Those who supported Brexit like Suella Braverman have been remarkably nice about me.
"Anthony Magnall this morning on The Sun supported me – there you go. The Tories are split, they’re not fit for purpose, they can’t provide opposition.
"And I think you’ll find if things go the way I hope they do that that wing of the Conservative party – literally only about 50 are real Brexiteers – they’ll find common cause with us."
Speaking on Times Radio, outgoing Tory big beast Michael Gove called the Reform contract "ridiculous".
He added: "Nigel Farage is part of a great entertainment machine. He is not someone who can govern this country.
"Reform is a giant ego trip, not a serious programme of alternative change.
"Nigel Farage provides amusement and diversion. What he does not provide is authority and good governance."
ANALYSIS: Does this all add up?
By MARTINA BET, Political Correspondent
NIGEL Farage insisted he unveiled a "contract" in place of a "manifesto," as the latter is often associated with the word "lie."
It is no secret that the Brexit supremo is trying to capitalise on discontent with the Tories and their long list of broken promises, particularly on immigration.
His choice of words this morning simply reinforced this narrative, tapping into widespread frustration and positioning himself as the honest alternative.
But their 24-page document isn’t a promise to deliver; it's just a list of what the party will be shouting about for the next five years - a mere direction of travel.
One thing people cannot accuse the document of lacking is radical proposals.
Among the promises are to stop the boats within 100 days, raise defence spending to 3 percent of GDP within six years, and eliminate income tax for those earning less than £20,000.
But does it add up? The extraordinary scale of extra spending, far surpassing that announced by the main two parties, includes £141 billion of additional expenditures.
On paper, it does, as they claim they can save £150 billion through measures like cutting government waste and benefits, taxing renewable energy sources, and businesses that employ immigrants.
It’s a bold move, but whether this "contract" is more than just hot air remains to be seen as there is an astonishing lack of detail.
One thing that remains true, however, is Farage’s ability to shake up the political landscape and by exploiting Tory failures, the Reform threat must not be underestimated.
Blasting Labour-run Wales, Farage said he chose to launch there as there are "higher taxes" and "worse delivery".
He said: "NHS waiting lists are exactly 50 per cent longer than in England.
"Education has drifted in a lefty, woke, PC, direction. Wales has fallen behind England on education, not that I believe England is any good."
“And of course the crowning glory of 25 years of Labour government in Wales... the imposition of 20mph speed limits.
“Since devolution, the Welsh have been ignored by the London political establishment and let down by the Labour administration they elected."
Farage also insisted Reform was "not a protest vote" and was offering "positive solutions for the future".
In the foreword of his contract, Mr Farage says: "The Tories have broken Britain. Labour will bankrupt Britain. A vote for either is a vote for more dishonesty and defeat."
He adds: "Once and for all, we will take back control over our borders, our money and our laws."
The first two of the party's five core pledges are on immigration, as it pledges to freeze "all non-essential immigration".
It claims the measures will "boost wages, protect public services, end the housing crisis and cut crime."
The party also claims to be able to stop all small boats crossing the English Channel within 100 days in Government with a four-point plan including pulling our of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The remaining three core pledges ask voters to "imagine no NHS waiting lists", "imagine good wages for a hard day's work" and "imagine affordable, stable energy bills".
Further measures include ditching all net-zero green policies, and ending "woke" policing.
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The Brexit campaigner also said he would legislate for "comprehensive free speech" that promises "no more de-banking, cancel culture, left-wing hate mobs or political bias in public institutions".
It comes after Farage said he would try to become Prime Minister at the next election in 2029.
Mr Farage had previously declared his return to lead the right-wing Tory rivals was part of a “five-year plan”.
Last week he also declared himself to be the “new leader of the opposition” and said he'd win "many" seats after one poll showed Reform above the Conservatives.
Speaking to the BBC this morning, he blasted that the Tories “can’t agree on anything”.
He continued: “They’re split down the middle, and we know what we stand for, we know what we believe in, and for democracy to function properly there needs to be a proper voice of opposition.
“And our plan – and this is our first big election as a party – our plan is to establish that bridgehead in Parliament and to use that voice to build a big national campaigning movement around the country over the course of the next five years for genuine change.”
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Asked if he would stand to be prime minister at an election in 2029, Mr Farage replied: “Yes, absolutely.
“I think the disconnect between the Labour and Conservative Westminster-based parties and the country – the thoughts, hopes and aspirations of ordinary people – are so far apart from where our politics is.”
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