Politics general election nigel farage
Reform UK’s manifesto figures don’t add up, and we’re shocked. Shocked, we tell you!
On Monday, Reform UK launched what it descibes as its ‘contract with the people’, but is obviously just a manifesto. Nigel Farage appeared alongside Richard Tice – the guy he kicked out as leader because he wanted the job.
Nigel Farage called England players ‘gutless’ for not speaking up about the new flag design on the England shirt
Nigel Farage today in front of his own party’s modified flag pic.twitter.com/4v5ePbMStX
— Toby Earle Threads tobyontv (@TobyonTV) June 17, 2024
Naturally, their pledges included an immediate freeze on immigration and an exit from the European Convention on Human Rights, but also some very expensive promises such as –
£17 billion a year for the NHS
Cutting corporation tax
Lifting the VAT threshold for small businesses
Tax breaks for carers
Tax relief on private school fees
Experts put their plans under scrutiny, and – well – it seems they were as reliable as the sunlit uplands of Brexit. Every source found them wanting.
Reform UK plan tax cuts which they say will cost £70bn; however our analysis shows the actual cost will be at least £93bn.
And their funding figures are out by £15bn+
All this means Reform UK have a total unfunded cost of at least £38bn – about two Liz Trusses.
— Dan Neidle (@DanNeidle) June 17, 2024
Reform UK plans ‘don’t add up’ and costings are out ‘by tens of billions of pounds per year’, says IFS – UK general election live https://t.co/Xr4hff1n3J
— The Guardian (@guardian) June 17, 2024
Sky’s Ed Conway ran through the figures.
Ed Conway, "Do Reform's figures actually add up?"
"You've got a black hole. It's like Liz Truss all over again" pic.twitter.com/ZNXnLCGJq9
— Farrukh (@implausibleblog) June 17, 2024
If anybody was surprised that Farage and Tice were promising something they couldn’t possibly deliver, we’ve got a bridge to sell them. Most people already had their card marked.
1.
Reform UK Ltd manifesto is Liz Truss on speed@danneidle has identified total UNFUNDED COST of at least £38bn
–
c twice the unfunded cost of Liz Truss's 2022 mini-budgetFarage & his Tufton St profiteering buddies will be beside themselves with joy
Voters = Mugs AGAIN https://t.co/mwr9PEMmM4
— Carol Vorderman (@carolvorders) June 17, 2024
2.
Least surprising news of the century alert… pic.twitter.com/o2W74VDDkd
— Edwin Hayward (@edwinhayward) June 17, 2024
3.
"I didn't get where I am today by publishing a manifesto where the numbers remotely add up." https://t.co/cmE1eei63x pic.twitter.com/D0fh250l6I
— Colin the Dachshund (@DachshundColin) June 17, 2024
4.
https://t.co/xez7VZtd11 pic.twitter.com/FvCovO7on5
— Old Gassy (@OldGassy1984) June 17, 2024
5.
I see Reform’s manifesto is out. They plan to slash funding to the public sector, pull out of the ECHR to make us a pariah nation, and bring in unfunded tax cuts that will make Liz Truss’s 43 days look like a masterclass in calm economic management. Great stuff, Nigel.
— Dan Rebellato (@DanRebellato) June 17, 2024
6.
“So if I save £400 million and spend and extra £50 billion, what do I have?”
“Stop the boats?” https://t.co/FtHjIESiXz pic.twitter.com/yAOoxLw121
— Rob B (@RobBfromDerby) June 17, 2024
7.
Did your mortgage sky rocket after the Truss mini budget?
Would you like it to sky rocket again?
Vote Reform. https://t.co/D74MlSaJfN
— Marina Purkiss (@MarinaPurkiss) June 18, 2024
8.
Fancy Liz Truss chaos on acid and no NHS
Vote Reform… pic.twitter.com/q68NdFs7PO
— Jemma Forte (@jemmaforte) June 18, 2024
9.
£50 billion of entirely unspecified cuts in the Reform "manifesto" – equivalent to the entire defence budget.
Plus £15 billion of unspecified welfare savings. And a vastly inflated figure on bank interest.
Ludicrous. https://t.co/WWLuk7aoP7
— Sam Freedman (@Samfr) June 17, 2024
10.
The Reform not-a-manifesto is a joke. They are a joke. It’s just insulting to all of us that we’re being presented with this utter utter garbage as a plan for government. And that the Tories and their media have spent the last decade trashing the place to please them. Just FFS.
— sarah murphy (@13sarahmurphy) June 17, 2024
11.
Meet the economics advisor to #ReformUK. Crunching numbers for Nigel Farage. pic.twitter.com/EryfNFcAoW
— ĴΛY ƇᎾИИᎾŔ (@connjam) June 18, 2024
12.
Reform explaining how they will pay for their policy commitments. pic.twitter.com/AjHanRUxaX
— Colin the Dachshund (@DachshundColin) June 17, 2024
13.
Nothing adds up when it comes to this charlatan. https://t.co/lpYUS2Jq10
— Tim Walker (@ThatTimWalker) June 17, 2024
14.
Maths has never been his strong point. Maybe they should have costed it in roubles.. https://t.co/phIcEr2Ewa
— martyn notman (@NFGmart) June 17, 2024
15.
A proper catastrophe https://t.co/75DekyYl38 pic.twitter.com/qsSYMyYD5i
— Simon Gosden. Esq. #fbpe 3.5% ☠️ (@g_gosden) June 17, 2024
We’ll just leave this here.
Reform's manifesto just leaked pic.twitter.com/RhTWOgYw18
— HappyToast★ (@IamHappyToast) June 17, 2024
READ MORE
Nigel Farage’s ‘official campaign song’ is one minute exceedingly well spent
Image Screengrab
