‘I wouldn’t trust them with a knife and fork frankly’
An audience member on Question Time launched a scathing attack on Reform UK’s record in local government and criticised the party’s policies in Wales.
The man did not hold back, saying that Reform couldn’t run councils without descending into infighting and questioning why their only policy in Wales was to scrap the 20 mile an hour speed limit.
The audience member said: “Deform UK talk a fantastic game but I wouldn’t trust them with a knife and fork, frankly.”
He added: “They can’t run a council in Kent without arguing with each other. Their leader has just become our top cryptocurrency salesperson this week.”
The man then criticised Reform for one of their “top priorities” being to scrap the 20 mile an hour speed limit in Wales.
He said: “Now, my average speed on my way here tonight was seven miles an hour. So I don’t know if Dan Thomas [Reform’s leader in Wales] has ever driven in Cardiff, but of the top 100 issues that Wales faces, the 20 mile an hour speed limit is not one of them.”
Responding to the question, Thomas, Reform’s Welsh leader, said that due to Cardiff being “a very urban area” sometimes it may not be possible to drive over 20 miles an hour.
However, he added: “What we forget is that Wales is a very big place. There’s rural roads, there’s urban roads, and people need their cars to get around.”
Thomas said that the change to the “default” 20 miles an hour speed limit in residential and built-up areas, which was brought in in 2023, was opposed by almost 500,000 people in Wales.
“More people than voted Labour at the last Senedd election. There is a democratic mandate to reverse that,” he argued.
Jane Dodds, leader of the Welsh Lib Dems, challenged Thomas over Reform’s policy to scrap the 20 mile an hour speed limit.
“May I ask Reform UK about the lives that have been saved through reducing to 20 miles an hour”, Dodds said.
Thomas said: “We don’t know.”
Dodds swiftly quoted the figures.
“No the data and evidence is there. 100 lives have been saved and over 700 people have not gone into hospital because they have not been hurt,” she said.
She said that the collision rate in Wales has gone down 37% as opposed to England at 4%.
To applause from the audience, she concluded: “So 20 miles an hour is making a difference to saving lives and my view is if it saves one life it’s worth it.”
Thomas also said that Reform would cut 1p off every income tax band by scrapping net zero subsidies and ‘green levies’, which he claimed would save £145 million.
The Reform politician also said that the party would cut down the number of quangos in Wales, of which there are currently over 200, to save £135 million.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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