Analysis of Reform UK proposal for income tax cuts in Scotland
The biggest direct beneficiaries of such a change would be the high-income taxpayers who currently pay substantially more in income tax than in the rest of the UK
…
But this does not properly confront the challenges they would face in finding £2 billion or more of spending cuts in the coming parliament.
Analysis of Reform UK proposal for income tax cuts in Scotland, ifs.org.uk #fantasyEconomics #giftsForTheRich #ScotlandReform’s first crack at power is already in crisis
The party’s performance in Kent shows it is nowhere near ready for government
[…]
Antony Hook, leader of the Liberal Democrats in Kent, says Reform was convinced they could make large savings from cutting the county’s budget on asylum seekers.
“They were really fixated on it. Every question they’d ask would be about the cost of asylum. We kept explaining that KCC doesn’t have that large a role in that and how it’s mainly a Home Office expense.
“We tried to explain that the big problem is adult social care, but they would just say: ‘What about asylum?’
“This is where reality has now collided with ideology. They said they’d take their chainsaw to a forest of waste. But the chainsaw seems to have been made out of sponge, and rather than a forest they’ve found an open field where there’s nothing to use it on.”
Reform’s first crack at power is already in crisis, The Telegraph
#asylum #failedToDoHomework #fantasyEconomics #Kent #NigelFarage #spongeChainsaw
Reform UK likely to raise council tax in Kent despite promise to cut costs
Kent becomes latest local authority controlled by Nigel Farage’s party to signal intention to raise council tax
A Reform UK-run council where the party sought to pilot drastic cost-cutting plans is going to have to raise council tax, a cabinet member has admitted.
Services at Kent county council were already “down to the bare bones”, said Reform’s cabinet member for adult social care, Diane Morton. It makes Kent the latest local authority controlled by Nigel Farage’s party to signal its intention to raise council tax.
Reform UK likely to raise council tax in Kent despite promise to cut costs, The Guardian
"Do Reform's economic plans add up?"
A particularly fine example of #BetteridgesLaw
Though perhaps if the BBC weren't so in love with Reform they might have included an estimate of the real figures in the graphic rather than only the fantasy figures.
The message that anyone who only looks at the pictures and doesn't read the words would take from that article (probably most potential Reform voters) is yes, the sums do add up.
Reform UK leader defends £190k-per-year plan to bring in political assistants at Warwickshire County Council
The interim leader of Warwickshire County Council has defended plans to bring in political assistants costing up to £190,000 per year in the face of outrage from other parties.
Councillor George Finch (Reform UK, Bedworth Central) confirmed he had instigated the proposals that will be considered by all councillors next week.
They would see the biggest three parties at Shire Hall – Reform, the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives – have a dedicated council officer to “undertake research and provide administrative support to members of political groups in the discharge of any of their (council) functions”, although the Lib Dems have spoken out to object to the idea.
National legislation allows councils to employ up to three people, one for each of the council’s three biggest groups provided they have at least 10 per cent of the seats available.
#fantasyEconomics #GeorgeFinch #LiberalDemocrats #ReformInefficiencyDepartment #Warwickshire
Reform UK raised even less in new funding than headline figures suggest
Low donations reflect leader Nigel Farage’s difficulty in capitalising on party’s political momentum and polling lead
Reform UK secured less than £1mn in new funding in the first quarter of this year, a smaller figure than previously known, as the party struggles to expand its donor base beyond a handful of longtime backers.
Headline figures for political donations suggested Reform pulled in close to £1.5mn in the first three months of 2025, but £613,000 of that figure reflected the conversion of historic loans into donations, the party said.
The loans were from Tisun Investments Limited, a company owned by Richard Tice, Reform’s deputy leader and one of its five MPs, who has for years been a primary funding source for the rightwing populist party.
#cash #fantasyEconomics #justSomeRichBoys #NigelFarage #RichardTice #FactsAndFigures
Reform’s ‘Britannia cards’ will cost £34 billion
Speaking today at Church House in Westminster, Nigel Farage announced that Reform will introduce a ‘Britannia card’ that will let wealthy foreigners pay a £250,000 fee to move to the UK, and live here exempt from all tax on their foreign assets. The move is an attempt to win over ‘non-doms’ alienated by Labour and Conservative governments and bring their wealth back into the country.
The party says the policy will raise between £1.5 and £2.5 billion annually. Our analysis of the data suggests it is more likely to cost around £34 billion over five years.
Reform’s ‘Britannia cards’ will cost £34 billion, www.spectator.co.uk
#failedToDoHomework #fantasyEconomics #NigelFarage #ReformInefficiencyDepartment #InTheNews
Speaking today at Church House in Westminster, Nigel Farage announced that Reform will introduce a ‘Britannia card’ that will let wealthy foreigners pay a £250,000 fee to move to the UK, and live here exempt from all tax on their foreign assets. The move is an attempt to win over ‘non-doms’ alienated by Labour and
Inferior pension schemes won’t create savings nor recruit vital staff
Commenting on remarks made by Richard Tice about preventing new recruits to Reform-controlled councils from joining the local government pension scheme alongside threats to cut the pay of existing employees, UNISON assistant general secretary Jon Richards said today (Thursday):
“This looks like another Reform UK policy scribbled on the back of a beer mat.
“Local authorities are obliged to offer access to the local government pension scheme to all new starters.
“The scheme is well-funded and affordable. Many council employees aren’t on final salary schemes anyway.
“Forcing council staff on to inferior pensions would leave retired workers much poorer and add to the already severe recruitment crisis in local government.
“Employees’ pensions aren’t the reason why many councils are on a financial precipice. It’s the decade and more of draconian budget cuts under Conservative governments.
“Reform claims to be on the side of workers. But declaring ‘war’ on low-paid staff won’t serve communities or cut budgets.”
Reform UK’s pension plan deserves early retirement, www.unison.org.uk
#failedToDoHomework #fantasyEconomics #JonRichards #RichardTice #UNISON #InTheNews
Fiscal recklessness aside, it’s the super-rich who’ll benefit from Reform UK policies
Nigel Farage claimed last week to speak for the working class but he is still firmly wedded to the rightwing playbook
For a politician who has done more than most to shape Britain’s current challenges, nothing seems to stick to Nigel Farage. Not the chaos of the post-Brexit referendum years; or the contradiction of his closed-border English nationalism combined with a fondness for courting nomad capitalists from Malaysia to Mar-a-Lago.
[…]
However, something is lost in the argument about Farageonomics. Not only are the party’s numbers hardly better than scribblings on the back of one of its leader’s umpteen fag packets, but there is a more fundamental problem: his plans would not help the communities that Reform claims to champion.
#fantasyEconomics #Farageonomics #NigelFarage #Trussonomics #InTheNews
Reform’s Clean Energy Crackdown Would Cost 60,000 Jobs and Raise Bills, Says Study
Nigel Farage’s “economically illiterate” climate policies could wipe £92 billion off the UK economy, according to the New Economics Foundation.
Reform UK’s policies to “scrap net zero” would cost more than 60,000 jobs and wipe £92 billion off the UK economy, according to a new study.
Nigel Farage’s party — which took control of 10 councils in the recent local elections — this week claimed that the government could save £45 billion every year by ditching climate policies.
However, analysis by the New Economics Foundation (NEF) published today suggests that Reform’s policies would cost jobs and investment, and could raise household energy bills.
Reform’s Clean Energy Crackdown Would Cost 60,000 Jobs and Raise Bills, Says Study, desmog.com
#fantasyEconomics #NEF #NigelFarage #ReformInefficiencyDepartment #scrapping #InTheNews
Reform UK’s policies to “scrap net zero” would cost more than 60,000 jobs and wipe £92 billion off the UK economy, according to a new study. Nigel Farage’s party — which took control of 10 councils in the recent local elections — this week claimed that the government could save £45 billion every year by […]
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Adam Jacobs 🇺🇦
