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Reform UK has revealed plans to stand in every seat in England, Wales and Scotland in the general election, citing concerns that the presence of these parties could split the Conservative vote.
The party’s honorary leader, Nigel Farage, claimed on Tuesday that the Conservative party had “destroyed itself” in a speech on Monday, while suggesting that Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer were “not that far apart” politically and that they were both “social democrats”.
He also claimed Reform UK had a six-year plan to have a serious presence in future general elections, adding: “We hope and pray that we can get a group of MPs together to enable us to be the opposition party at Westminster.”
The party is trying to persuade voters to give it a seat in the House of Representatives, and its key pledges include:
Immigration
Freezing non-essential immigration – Reform UK wants to freeze all immigration except for people who have “essential skills that our economy needs, who earn above average salaries”, such as doctors, nurses and successful business people.
6 points to stop your boat The party recognises the small boat crisis as a national security threat and will withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights, halt all resettlement of illegal immigrants to the UK, set up overseas processing for arrivals, set up a new immigration office and send people arriving on small boats back to France.
Immediate deportation of foreign criminals – Anyone in a UK prison would be deported immediately after serving their sentence, while “immigrants who commit serious crimes” would be stripped of their citizenship.
Dependent Restrictions on Student Visas The party will put strict limits on the number of dependants who can be brought to the UK on a student visa and ensure that only international students with essential skills are able to stay in the UK after completing their studies.
Heavy penalties for companies that employ illegal workers Reform UK claims that “cheap, illegal labour has slashed local wages to the detriment of British workers” and plans to impose significant penalties on the companies and directors who employ them.
Taxes, Spending, and the Economy
Save £5 on every £100 – All managers across government will be asked to deliver 5 percent savings by eliminating wasteful spending, cutting bureaucracy and negotiating better procurement contracts, “without touching frontline services”.
Abolish unnecessary quasi-government agencies – Save money by abolishing some of the 600 government departments and “quasi-government” agencies that receive central government funding. Reform UK claims that “the public would not notice if dozens of departments were abolished”.
Bank of England ends interest payments on QE reserves The party claims that up to £40 billion could be saved by cutting the amount of interest the Bank of England pays to commercial banks.
Elimination of “unnecessary regulations” The party claims that “government bureaucracy and overprotective state regulation are estimated to have cost the UK economy £143 billion since 2015” and wants to scrap many of these regulations.
Income tax threshold increased to £20,000 – Reform UK says this would free seven million people from paying income tax, saving every worker around £1,500 a year. The party would also increase the top rate of income tax to £70,000.
Inheritance tax reform – Reform UK wants to impose no inheritance tax on estates below £2 million, and a 20% inheritance tax on estates above this threshold. The current rate is 40% on all estates over £500,000.
Lowering corporate taxes The party wants to increase the minimum profits threshold to £100,000 and cut the headline corporation tax rate from 25% to 20%, with a further reduction to 15% after five years.
Tax reform “Significant simplification is needed. UK tax laws are burdensome and over 21,000 pages long. Hong Kong’s tax laws are less than 500 pages long,” the party said.
Defense and Foreign Relations
Foreign aid cut in half – Reform UK says cutting foreign aid contributions in half would stop payments to countries such as China and India and save £6 billion from the current £12.8 billion budget.
Abolition of the Windsor Framework The party said the deal was “worse than the original Northern Ireland protocol” and would also renegotiate EU trade deals.
Increase in defense spending – Reform Britain wants to increase defense spending to 2.5% of GDP within three years, then 3% within six years. It will also reform defense procurement to save money and provide tax incentives to boost the UK defense industry.
Supporting Veterans The party would oversee a pay review for the armed forces, pass legislation to protect the military from legal challenges and set up a new ministry for veterans. Veterans would also be given priority in civil service jobs, access to public services and improved housing.
Healthcare and Social Welfare
Huge tax cuts for NHS staff – Reform UK plans to put all frontline NHS and social care staff in zero basic rate tax for three years, claiming this will mean “frontline NHS and social care staff in zero basic rate tax for three years”.
Expanding Private Sector Engagement – To reduce waiting lists, the party will harness the capacity of not-for-profit healthcare providers such as Nuffield Health and Marie Curie.
Tax benefits for private medical care – To encourage people to take out private health insurance, Reform UK will offer a 20% tax cut to ease the burden on the NHS.
Training restrictions for UK medical students lifted – As well as removing the cap on the number of medical students, Reform UK will forgive NHS frontline workers from repaying their student loans after 10 years of work.
Private medical voucher system – If patients cannot see a GP within three days, a consultant within three weeks or book a surgery within nine weeks they will be offered a voucher for private treatment.
Investigation into vaccine harms launched – Regarding this pledge, the party said: “The number of excess deaths is almost as high as during the Covid pandemic. Young people are over-represented.”
energy
Abolition of VAT on energy prices – Abolish VAT on energy bills, saving households around £500 a year.
Abolishing net zero targets The party argues that a net-zero target is estimated to cost the UK economy £2 trillion and that abandoning the pledge could save the public sector £20 billion a year over the next 25 years.
Abolishing renewable energy subsidies – Commenting on the pledge, the party said: “Renewable energy is not cheap. With the massive increase in renewable generating capacity over the past 15 years, electricity prices have risen dramatically.”
Expediting North Sea Licensing – Reform UK is seeking to increase the number of oil and gas licences granted in the North Sea, arguing that “shale gas could be worth hundreds of billions of dollars to taxpayers over the next 30 years”.
Promoting clean energy The party said it would “fast-track clean nuclear energy with new small modular reactors built in the UK.”
housing
Stamp Duty Reduction The party says cutting stamp duty to 0% on all homes under £750,000 would “stimulate economic activity and housebuilding”, with rates standing at 2% on homes up to £1 million and 4% on those over £1.5 million.
Reforming the planning system The party wants to fast-track new housing and infrastructure projects on brownfield sites to boost business, particularly in the north and coastal redevelopment areas.
Public Housing Reform – Reform UK wants local people to be given priority in social housing, adding that “foreigners must go to the back of the queue, not the front”.
Police, Crime and Justice
Increased police force – Raise police ratios from 235 to 300 per 100,000 people, equivalent to 40,000 frontline officers. The party also plans to use technology to reduce paperwork and put more officers on patrol.
Increasing the criminal justice budget The party claims the justice budget has changed little for the past decade and will increase it from £10 billion to £12 billion to reduce delays and provide better staff. The budgets of the National Crime Agency and the National Drug Intelligence Agency will also be increased to tackle organised crime and police and crime commissioners will be abolished.
Zero Tolerance Police – Modelled on the system that dramatically reduced crime in New York, Reform UK would impose prison terms for all violent crimes and knife possession, mandatory life sentences for drug dealing, mandatory life sentences for second violent and serious crimes, and provide “high intensity training camps” for young offenders.
The End of “Woke” Police The party will abolish all diversity, equality and inclusion roles and regulations, end dual-tier policing, reform the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) and reform the current definition of hate crime.
Prison expansion – Reform UK wants to build 10,000 new prisons in state prisons and will “commission disused military bases where necessary”.
education
Banning “transgender ideology” in schools Commenting on the pledge, the party said: “There are two sexes and two genders and to confuse children by suggesting otherwise is a dangerous safeguarding issue,” adding that parents should be informed about “their children’s life decisions” and all schools should have single-sex facilities.
Banning Critical Race Theory in Schools – Regarding the pledge, the party said: “It is unacceptable to divide children on the basis of race and teach them to be ashamed of their country.”
Tax breaks for private schools – Reform UK is opposed to charging VAT on private school tuition fees, and wants to encourage parents to choose private schools by offering a 20% tax break instead.
Eliminate interest on student loans The party would extend repayment periods to 45 years, eliminate interest on student loans, end “rip-off” degrees, cap undergraduate numbers and require universities to offer two-year courses to reduce student debt.
Cutting funding for universities that “undermine free speech” Commenting on the pledge, the party said: “The government’s free speech laws are powerless and those who tolerate political bigotry and cancel culture should face heavy fines.”
welfare
The two-strike rule for benefits The party will require job seekers to find employment within four months or accept a job after two offers or have their benefits cancelled.
Return to work drive – Reform UK will end remote assessments on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and reform the benefit to get millions of 16-34 year olds into work.
Reforming child allowances – “Front-load” child benefit payments for up to four children under the age of four to allow more mothers to stay at home, and reform the tax system to allow married couples to share tax credits.
Social welfare inquiries – Reform UK, which is overseeing a royal commission inquiry into how to improve the social care system, added that “if a national plan is agreed, additional funding will be needed”.
Other pledges
Abolishing HS2 and Ulez The party said it would “save £25 billion by scrapping the remainder of this bloated vanity project” and ban all low emission zones and low traffic neighbourhoods.
Promoting agriculture and fisheries – This will be achieved by increasing the agriculture budget to £3 billion, scrapping climate-related farm subsidies and protecting local sport. Reform UK will also end the EU’s automatic access to UK waters and ban foreign large trawlers.
Constitutional amendment The party said it would “replace the crony House of Lords with a much smaller second chamber”, alongside wider civil service reforms, overhaul postal voting to prevent electoral fraud and introduce proportional representation in the House of Commons.