“Reduce taxes for working people”, declared Reform UK as the party pledged £90 billion in tax cuts ahead of last year’s general election, where it won 14 per cent of the vote and five seats in Parliament.
The party’s “Our Contract with You”, which featured the word “tax” on 58 occasions across the 26-page manifesto, said it would increase the income tax personal allowance to £20,000, while raising the threshold for paying the higher rate to £70,000.
The party also pledged to scrap inheritance tax on estates under £2 million.
But after The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) questioned the realism of its tax plans, and opinion polls now suggest a lack of voter trust on its fiscal responsibility, party bosses appear to be rethinking earlier plans.
After deputy leader Richard Tice’s told the BBC in September that the manifesto was “not appropriate” for the next election, leader Nigel Farage will look set to go a step further by saying he will break the 2024 policy to make £90 billion in cuts.
According to The Times, Mr Farage will say the party will not reduce taxes before making cuts to spending, the civil service and implementing a ban on borrowing to fund government expenditure in his first major speech on the economy next month.
Party sources told the newspaper that new policies will focus on cuts to fuel duty, income, corporation and inheritance taxes.
“At the next election, we will present a rigorous and fully-costed manifesto,” Mr Farage told The Times.
“Reform will never borrow to spend, as Labour and the Tories have done for so long; instead, we will ensure savings are made before implementing tax cuts. I will have more to say on all this in the coming weeks.”
He said the policy to increase the tax-free personal allowance to £20,000, estimated to cost between £50bn and £80bn, was now “a goal we should aspire for”.
Mr Farage was speaking as he visited Wales to support Llyr Powell, who is Reform’s candidates in the Caerphilly by-election. The contest, which comes as a result of the sudden death of Labour MS Heifin David in August, marks an opportunity for Reform to begin its campaign ahead of the country’s Senedd election next year.
It is also a chance for the party to respond to the criticism faced during the Labour and Conservative party conferences, where the Tory shadow chancellor Mel Stride said Reform’s manifesto promised tens of billions of pounds in unfunded commitments.
Mr Stride told delegates: “Be assured of this, that when the glitter, the shimmy of the sequined dress, the razzamatazz, the spinning plates, the fireworks have faded you will be left with emptiness.”
According to The Times, some opinion polls suggest that the Tories lead Reform when voters are asked which party they most trust on the economy.
In its 2024 manifesto, Reform implied the tax cuts would be partly funded by a “slash on wasteful [government] spending”, which would save £50bn per year. A cut in foreign aid by 50 per cent would save a further £6bn.
In its assessment on the plans, the IFS said: “Whilst Reform’s manifesto gives a clear sense of priority, a government could only implement parts of this package, or would need to find other ways to help pay for it, which would mean losers not specified.”
But as reported by The Times, Reform will now look to firm up its economic credibility with plans to reduce spending with a ban on welfare payments to most migrants and deeper cuts to the public sector and civil service than that were initially proposed.
The party will also look to drive growth and lower energy costs through a programme of investment in part-nationalised nuclear power plants.
Mr Farage told The Times: “The 2024 document proposed reductions in civil service spending, but we will increase those cuts. We will cut overall spending, introduce an industrial policy and drive a cultural shift in attitudes towards work and success.”
While no shadow chancellor has yet been named by the party, he added: “We will be launching between now and the budget, a new campaign — an economic campaign … it’s going to be very impactful.”
