Reform has dropped its pledge to part-nationalise water and energy companies in its latest U-turn
Nigel Farage has now said that a Reform government would not nationalise water and energy companies, in the party’s latest policy U-turn.
Reform’s 2024 general election manifesto proposed a “new ownership model for critical national infrastructure” such as utility companies, in which the state and pension funds would own half each.
Just last summer, Farage said he was determined to bring half of the water industry back into public ownership, as it would cost “a lot less” money.
On Tuesday the party confirmed that it has now dropped the pledge, for the same reason Farage dropped his previous plans to enact £90 billion in tax cuts – due to the UK’s finances.
In November, Reform dropped the £90 billion tax cuts plan that it had promised before the last general election, stating that it would instead prioritise cutting public spending.
“We want to cut taxes, of course we do, but we understand substantial tax cuts given the dire state of debt and our finances are not realistic at this current moment in time”, Farage said.
Reform UK has made a number of other U-turns on key policy matters.
Most recently, Farage said that the UK “should do all we can” to help the Americans with their war on Iran.
Days later, Farage backtracked, stating: “We cannot get involved directly in another foreign war, we don’t have a Navy, we cannot even defend our own military base in Cyprus.”
In May last year, the hard-right party said it would scrap the two-child limit, which has pushed hundreds of thousands of children into poverty.
In February, former Tory Robert Jenrick said that the party would in fact reinstate the Conservative policy in full.
In the run-up to the local elections last year, Reform campaigned on a pledge to “cut your taxes”, a message that featured on many of its leaflets.
In another U-turn, Farage told the BBC that council tax “has to rise” as local authorities are in “massive debt”.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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