Farage said he will still claim his £73,000 per year European Parliament pension, yet Reform is going after council workers' pensions
Richard Tice has announced that new employees at councils controlled by Reform UK will get less generous pensions, and called defined benefit pension schemes “an outrage”.
The party has also suggested that existing staff in the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) would receive smaller pay rises to offset their “generous” pensions.
Earlier this week, Reform launched its Elon Musk-inspired Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)-style team aimed at making efficiencies at a local council level.
Reform UK now controls 10 county councils and has minority control in a further two local authorities.
However, while Reform UK wants to attack workers’ pensions, it has been pointed out that Nigel Farage won’t let go of any of his precious pension money.
Despite leading the campaign for Brexit, Farage said in 2017 that he would still claim his European Parliament pension.
Once Farage turns 63, he will be entitled to an annual pension of around £73,000.
Commenting on the Reform deputy leader’s announcement, Unison said in a statement: “If Mr Tice really does believe in cutting taxpayer costs, then shouldn’t all five Reform UK MPs withdraw from the MPs’ generous, and expensive, defined benefit (DB) pension scheme?”.
Each year MPs earn a pension of 1/51th of their salary, increased in line with inflation.
Unison calculates that after one five-year term, an MP on the current salary of £93,904 would get an inflation-linked pension of £9,206 a year, with their partner entitled to 3/8 of that if the MP dies.
Twenty years as an MP means a pension of around £36,000 annually, higher if the MP has been a minister.
Compared to the pensions of MPs, and MEPs, for that matter – council pensions pay out around £4,000 a year. Farage is quick to attack others’ pensions, while ensuring his own is “gold-plated”.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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