The party's policy claims and manifesto pledges thrown into question

Nigel Farage declared Reform UK was releasing a ‘contract’ rather than a manifesto as manifesto was associated with lies. However, on top of being taken apart for containing ‘problematic’ sums that economic experts said ‘do not add up’, fact checkers and journalists have called out a number of unsubstantiated claims.

1. Deputy leader’s OBR claim rubbished

Nigel Farage’s Deputy Leader David Bull claimed during a Sky News interview with Kay Burley that the Office for Budget Responsibility had ‘definitely’ looked at Reform’s contract. He was pushed on the claim and doubled down on it, however, following the interview, journalist Mhari Aurora said the non-departmental public body “can’t do that”.

“He’s obviously got himself into a bit of a twist this morning,” Aurora said. “They do not scrutinise opposition manifestos, that would require a change of the law.”

2. Policing policy

In its manifesto contract, the party has pledged to require police officers to “complete a two-year probation period”, however fact-checking group Full Fact pointed out that this is already a requirement, rendering the policy redundant. Currently newly joining police officers must have at least two years’ probation.   

3. Record crime claim

In the contract, Reform claims there is “record crime”, tapping into a classic populist rhetoric to garner fear around safety. However, data from the Crime Survey of England and Wales, which the Office for National Statistics has said is the best analyser of overall trends, shows crime peaked in the mid-1990s and has been falling ever since.  

4. Labour immigration claim

 During the ‘contract’ launch, Nigel Farage claimed Labour had “not even mentioned immigration” in their six key priorities. However the third step in Labour’s six ‘first steps for change’ is to ‘Launch a Border Security Command”, a pledge specifically focused on immigration and tackling criminal boat gangs.

5. Reform’s tax proposals benefit the poorest

On the media rounds promoting his manifesto pledges, Nigel Farage claimed that people on benefits would gain the most from Reform’s pledges. However, the hosts of Good Morning Britain shut him down. Ed Balls said “people on benefits would not benefit at all from the personal tax allowance because they wouldn’t be paying any tax”.

Farage, who is a privately educated, former banker millionaire, continued to claim that the poorest would benefit, he was shot down again.

“Facts are important here, the person who would benefit most from your personal tax proposal is someone on £95,000 who would gain far more than someone on average earnings, who would gain much more than someone on the minimal wage, did you not know that?” Balls asked Farage.

Hannah Davenport is news reporter at Left Foot Forward

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