Video footage has been circulating on social media of protesters being assaulted on Friday at Reform’s conference.

The protesters were part of Climate Resistance, and disrupted Nigel Farage’s keynote speech on Friday afternoon. 

In response, Reform conference attendees are seen attacking the hecklers. 

In one video, an older man with a walking stick is seen hitting a female protester over the head, while another grabs her mouth and people push her.

Reacting to the assaults, Reform MP Robert Jenrick said he had “zero sympathy” for the protesters who were attacked. 

He also justified the violence carried out by members of the audience, saying: “What do you expect them to do?”.

Farage laughed at the disruption and said: “We’ve got a screamer. Oh dear.”

The Reform leader also said to the conference hall: “That poor young girl, she looked like she was going to do herself an injury”, before adding, “boring, boring, boring”.

The police have been urging the protesters who were attacked to come forward. 

In a statement, the West Midlands police force said: “To date, none of the victims involved have come forward. We continue to encourage them to do so.”

The statement added: “A number of suspects have been identified as the investigation progresses.”

LFF spoke with a Climate Resistance activist who attended Reform conference at the weekend, who said she was unsure if one of the women who was assaulted would report the incident to the police. 

Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward

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Minister Andy Burnham faces a difficult task in changing the UK’s economic fortunes. The decline is due to the obsession with neoliberalism, which has failed to improve the quality of life for millions. Chancellor John Healey’s first budget offers a chance to improve the purchasing power of the bottom 50% of the population, which in turn will increase people’s disposable incomes, invigorate local economy and fuel economic growth.

Neoliberal Destruction

The evidence of neoliberal destruction is all around us. Workers’ share of gross value added has declined from 71.9% in 1975, to 59.7% in 2026. 1.23m workers are on zero-hour contracts. 4.4m jobs pay less than the real living wage. 6.3m workers are in insecure jobs with no guarantees of when they will work, how much they will earn, and whether they will have enough hours or even if they will have a job in future. The insecurity is compounded by a tax system in which the poorest 20% pay a higher proportion of their income in direct and indirect taxes than the richest 20%. 

Unsurprisingly, 25.3m people, including 14.9m working adults and 7.7m children, live below minimum income standards, and have little capacity to boost economic growth. At the same time, the richest 1% has more wealth than the bottom 70% of the population combined.  50 families hold more wealth than the poorest half of the population, comprising more than 34m people. Due to concentration of wealth in relatively fewer hands governments rely upon fewer people to stimulate the economy and are easily held to ransom.

Public infrastructure has been dismantled. 6.16m individuals await 7.28m hospital appointments. 1.3m households (about 4m people) are on a waiting list for a social home; but only 12,198 social homes a year are being built. Social care is in disarray. Universities are in financial crisis. Rivers are polluted with raw sewage. Roads are potholed. Half of England’s schools are unfit for use. The court system is creaking and prisons are overflowing. The economy is vulnerable as manufacturing has declined from 30.1% of economic output in 1970 to 8.5% by 2026.

Neoliberals have restructured the state. Instead of directly investing in infrastructure and new industries, it guarantees corporate profits through privatisations, outsourcing of public services, private finance initiative (PFI) and public private partnership (PPP). Profiteering by corporations has depleted the public purse, leaving less for frontline services. Neoliberals demand cuts in wages, benefits, state pension and public investment, but are silent on the social cost of corporate welfare and tax perks of the super-rich. 

Big banks have been bailed out and are now bankruptcy proof. The finance industry has turned town centres into economic deserts. Private equity has no long-term interest in the wellbeing of workers, customers and communities. It extracts cash through asset-stripping, cuts in wages and staffing, and tax abuses. It has devoured names such as Bernard Matthews, Body Shop, Byron Burger, Casual Dining, Cath Kidson, Claire’s, Comet, Debenhams, Flybe, Four Seasons Health Care, Homebase, HMV, Maplin, Monarch Airlines, The Original Factory Shop, Payless Shoes, Poundworld, Silentnight, Southern Cross, Thomas Cook, TM Lewin, Toys “R” Us and more. It owns supermarkets, hospitals, care homes, GP surgeries, water companies, vets and receives government contracts.

China invests over 41% of its GDP in productive assets, and India 34.3%. The UK spends around 17.9%, with about 50% provided by the private sector. Due to low investment state the UK has languished at or near the bottom of the G7 and OECD league of investment in productive assets for over thirty years, resulting in low productivity.

Reviving the UK

There is an urgent need to tackle social problems. What could the Chancellor do?

The government could embrace the Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) and create new money for economic revival, but MMT has no political traction.

It could increase tax rates but has pledged not to increase rates of national Insurance, income tax, VAT and corporation tax.

The post-war prosperity we had was built on government debt of 270% of GDP. The public debt is currently around 95% of GDP and the government can borrow more for social investment, but it fears big corporations and the City of London who demand more privatisations.

Despite the self-imposed constraints, the government can access billions for tackling poverty and social investment by eliminating tax, legal and fiscal anomalies .Here are some examples.

Wages are taxed at marginal rates of 20%-45%. Earners also pay national insurance. Capital gains above £3,000 are taxed at marginal rates of 18% to 24%. By taxing capital gains at the same rates as wages, around £12bn to £14bn could be raised. More, if national insurance is levied.

Dividends above £500 are taxed at marginal rates of 8.75%, 33.75%, and 39.35%. Bringing dividend taxes in line with income tax rates could raise £6 billion a year. Higher if national insurance is also charged.

Gross tax relief on pension contributions to employers and employees in 2024- 2025 was £83.9bn. 14% of the tax relief benefited 1.1m additional rate (45%) taxpayers, 57% benefited 6.6m higher rate (40%) taxpayers and 29% went to 30.4m basic rate (20%) tax payers. By restricting tax relief at the rate 20% to all, the government could have £14.5bn spare.

A 2% tax on wealth above £10m could raise £24bn a year.

A modest Financial Transactions Tax (FTT) on the purchase and sale of financial instruments like shares, bonds, and derivatives could raise £5bn a year.

VAT at the standard rate on private healthcare insurance premiums could raise around £2bn a year.

A home worth £320,000 falls into the same council tax band as a property worth £32m. Additional council tax bands can raise revenues.

The rules for curbing tax avoidance don’t apply to business rate avoidance. Promoters of one scheme boasted that they have deprived local councils of £500m of revenue. Millions can be raised by ending abusive schemes.

In 2024-25, HMRC failed to collect taxes of £59.2bn; totalling nearly £500bn since 2010. Another £12.8bn is lost through profit shifting by multinationals. Billions can be raised by tackling tax abuse and its enablers.

Lawyers, accountants, dentists, surveyors and architects trade through limited liability partnership (LLP) structure. As partners, they receive share of profit instead of wages. Their self-employed status means that the LLP does not pay employer national insurance on the profit shared by partners, saving the firms £150,000 for every £1m of profit shared. Big four law firms alone reportedly avoided paying £4bn of employer national insurance. Billions can be collected by ending the employer national insurance dodge.

Dividends to foreign investors are paid without deducting tax at source. Countries such as the USA, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Sweden have a dividend withholding tax for foreign investors. The UK should follow suit. Each £100bn dividend paid to foreign investors could yield £20bn or more in tax revenues.

Research shows that since the pandemic corporations have increased their profit margins by an average of 30%. Electricity and Gas supply companies increased their profit margins by 363%, often without additional investment or risks. Governments can raise large amounts through windfall taxes. For example, a windfall tax on the UK’s four biggest banks could raise £19bn. A small windfall tax is already levied on energy companies and there is scope for much higher rates. Their 2025 profit of £23.1bn is further boosted by the Iran war. 

HMRC is an unsecured creditor for taxes specifically relating to a business (such as corporation tax and capital gains tax). It recovers little from bankrupt businesses. Phoenixing also robs the public purse. HMRC wrote-off £5.6bn in 2023-24, £7.2bn in 2024-25 and £12.8bn in 2025-26. Restoration of the preferential creditor status for HMRC can raise billions.

Since 2006, the Bank of England has paid interest on central bank reserve deposits to commercial banks. Central bank reserves are deposits held by commercial banks at the Bank of England (BoE) and are used to settle payments between banks. They are also used by the BoE to manage interest rates through tools such as quantitative easing. The interest payments accelerated in 2009 as quantitative easing took hold. As interest rates rose, payments to commercial banks increased. The EU had similar arrangements but in 2023 virtually eliminated the practice. The Swiss central bank also stopped paying interest on central bank reserves. The UK continues to pay massive amounts; £38.23bn in 2023, £36.33in 2024 and £25.9bn in 2025. Billions can be freed by ending hidden subsidies to banks.

The above is a small sample of the anomalies that need to be addressed to boost the public purse. The tax base needs to be broadened.  Billions can be raised without increasing the basic rates of national Insurance, VAT, income and corporation tax. It won’t immediately dismantle neoliberalism but a start can be made by reducing inequalities, alleviating poverty, raising personal allowance and removing millions for paying income tax, bringing essential services into public ownership and by making much needed social investment. Does the government have the political will to act?

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The YouGov poll, carried out between 6 and 7 September, has found that 73% of voters view Farage as sleazy, including 56% who see him as “very sleazy”.

This means the public views him as the sleaziest political leader in UK politics, with other politicians including Keir Starmer and Andy Burnham viewed as less sleazy.

According to the poll, 51% of voters view Starmer as sleazy, and 35% said they think the same of Burnham. 

Even among supporters of Farage’s own party, 41% of Reform UK voters think he is sleazy.

Meanwhile, 35% of Reform supporters also view the party itself as sleazy. 

Reform UK is viewed as “very sleazy” or “fairly sleazy” by 71% of the surveyed voters, up by 20 points over the last two years. 

This puts Reform on a par with the Conservative governments between 2019 and 2024, which received the same “very” or “fairly” sleazy rating.

By comparison, 55% of Brits view the Labour government since 2024 as “very” or “fairly sleazy”, while 38% of voters see the Greens as sleazy and 32% say the same of the Lib Dems.

YouGov has said that the undercover donations investigation into Reform published last Friday does not appear to have had an additional negative impact on perceptions of Farage or Reform. 

The investigation carried out by Verbatim and broadcast on Channel 4 showed Farage, and former senior Reform aides James Orr and Dan Jukes plotting about how an American donor could bypass electoral law to donate money to the party.

Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward

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Israel announced the retaliatory measures after Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband accused the country of “turning a blind eye” to the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians living in the West Bank, who are increasingly under pressure to relocate from settlers.

He told Parliament that Britain will sanction goods and services from Israeli settlements – which are illegal under international law – in the occupied West Bank and set out an import ban on goods from illegal settlements in the occupied territories.

There’s also a ban on the advertising in the UK of illegal settlement properties and a new ban for arms licences and other exports that “materially contribute to the occupation”.

Israel retaliated by banning 12 British MPs from entering the country, including Bradford West MP Naz Shah.

Shah issued a statement calling the list of names ‘random and frankly bizarre’.

She said: “I have no idea how this list was compiled and, as many people who have already contacted me have said, the selection appears rather random and, frankly, bizarre.”

“What I am clear about, however, is the position I have consistently campaigned for over many years: the UK Government should take meaningful action to end trade with illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, which are recognised as unlawful under international law.

“I am proud to support the UK Government’s actions today, taken in line with our international legal obligations.”

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It announced the retaliatory measures after Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband accused Israel of “turning a blind eye” to the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians living in the West Bank, who are increasingly under pressure to relocate from settlers.

He told Parliament that Britain will sanction goods and services from Israeli settlements – which are illegal under international law – in the occupied West Bank and set out an import ban on goods from illegal settlements in the occupied territories.

There’s also a ban on the advertising in the UK of illegal settlement properties and a new ban for arms licences and other exports that “materially contribute to the occupation”.

Subsequently, Israeal has announced a ban on 12 British MPs from entering the country after Foreign Minister Gideon Saar claimed the elected officials took part in anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli activities.

The full list of MPs is as follows:

Jeremy Corbyn MP
Zarah Sultana MP
Fahad Ansari, Director of Riverway to the Sea
Naz Shah MP
Diane Abbott MP
Hannah Spencer MP
Carla Denyer MP
Sian Berry MP
Ellie Chowns MP
John McDonnell MP
Richard Burgon MP
Adrian Ramsay MP

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The More in Common polling, commissioned by investigative climate NGO Global Witness, revealed high levels of concern about the impact of the extreme heat on public services, including schools and the NHS. 

Three quarters (75%) of those surveyed were concerned about how extreme heat impacts the NHS’ ability to treat patients, while 63% were worried about its impact on schools’ ability to teach pupils. 

In addition, 75% of people supported the installation of solar-powered air conditioning in schools and hospitals.

An overwhelming majority (69%) of people backed a new legal maximum indoor working temperature of 30°c. 

Global Witness says NHS doctors have told the NGO that hospital temperatures became so high during this summer’s heatwaves that MRI scanners and CT machines cut out, with waiting times and patient flow affected. 

Teachers told Global Witness that staff and students fell sick during the extreme heat this summer and reported a lack of clear guidance on school closures or maximum working temperatures.

Global Witness provided some schools with thermometers to measure their classroom temperatures during the heatwave in mid-June.

Several teachers reported temperatures between 30 and 38 degrees – well above the recommended maximum classroom temperature of 26°C set by the National Education Union.

To mitigate the impact of climate change, Global Witness is calling on Andy Burnham to fairly tax the oil and gas industry, which has raked in big windfalls from the Iran war this year, after making bumper profits following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Global Witness senior campaigner, Flossie Boyd, said: “It’s scandalous that as people’s lives were put at risk this summer, the oil giants turbo-charging extreme heat were raking in sky-high profits, pushing for more dirty drilling and lower taxes.

“The climate crisis is here, and bold action is needed to keep people safe. If Burnham wants to stand up for families and working people, he should stand up to oil giants, tax them fairly and use the proceeds to fund the climate preparedness Britain desperately needs – like solar-powered AC to protect the most vulnerable.”

Image credit: Neil Thomas

Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward

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He said the government will impose an import ban on goods ⁠from the settlements, stating: “I do not believe that the British people want us supporting the occupation by accepting products from settlements in our shops and supermarkets”.

Miliband said of the Israel-Gaza situation that Andy Burnham “is right to say that the Labour government has not done enough in the face of what is happening”. 

The foreign secretary said that “settler terrorism is rampant”, stating that the UN reports an average of six violent settler attacks against Palestinians every day this year. 

He also referred to Israel’s occupation of the West Bank as “ethnic cleansing”. 

On arms sales, Miliband said that the government has suspended more than 30 out of 350 arms export licences to Israel.

He also stated that the Labour government stopped providing direct F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel in October 2024, while maintaining indirect supply through the global program chain.

He said those suspensions remain in place, and that the government “will now also refuse all licence applications for arms and other exports that materially contribute to the occupation”.

Miliband has said that he will put forward legislation on sanctioning the settlements, and that the ban will take six to nine months to come into force.

Reacting to the government’s ban on trade with illegal settlements, TUC General Secretary, Paul Nowak, said: “This is an important step forward for Palestinians who have faced the ongoing and escalating threat of illegal settler violence – and towards securing a just and lasting peace in the Middle East based on a two state solution and an end to the illegal occupation. 

“For too long, the world has turned a blind eye to flagrant illegal settlement expansion and settler attacks. This move positions Britain as a leader on the global stage – and puts respect for human rights and international law at the heart of our trade policy.”

Nick Dearden, director of Global Justice Now, said: “Britain has always said settlements are illegal. It made no sense that we allowed trade and investment which helped these entities, built on the violent forced displacement of Palestinians.

“Today’s announcement is the result of many years of work by campaigners and Palestinians themselves fighting to end severe injustice. We know this move will be very popular in Britain. But it must be just the beginning.

“How can we cooperate with a military guilty of the most serious abuses of international law? How can we trade with a country that stands accused of genocide at the world’s highest court?  Today the Foreign Secretary admitted Keir Starmer’s government had got it wrong on Israel. This must be the start, not the end, of putting it right.”

Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward

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Speaking to The Mirror at Reform conference at the weekend, Finch said he wouldn’t attend Green Party conference “because they smell” and “they just need febreeze everywhere”.

The 20-year-old leader of Warwickshire County Council and Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council began by saying that he would be interested in going to other party conferences to see what they are like.

He then said: “But they’re all boring. The Lib Dems, I just wouldn’t want to go there. The Greens, they just need febreeze everywhere because they all smell.”

Finch added that Reform “was a great conference”, adding that the party is doing “a great job” and “it’s going to be a great few years for us”. 

Reacting to the video, which has had almost 190,000 views so far, one X user wrote: “Rather go where people smell over somewhere you get hit over the head with a walking stick and your hair pulled, which is what happened at Reform’s jamboree.”

Another commented: “Bit rich coming from a party whose own conference featured undercover footage exposing dodgy US cash, an active police investigation into violent assaults, and Lee Anderson rattling a tin for the attacker. We all know which party truly stinks.”

Others suggested that Finch’s comments prove Reform is “unserious” and not ready to govern.

One said: “Only a child says “they smell”. Reform are not serious people.”

“More proof that Farage has no control over his Party. This is not a serious political outfit,” another added.

Reform’s conference this year was overshadowed by footage taken by investigative journalists from Verbatim. The undercover footage showed Nigel Farage, Reform’s former head of policy, James Orr, and Farage’s senior aide, Dan Jukes, plotting about how an American businessman could bypass electoral law and donate £500,000 to Reform.

Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward

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Habib made the comments in May, in an interview with Paul Thorpe, a right-wing Youtuber and former watch dealer.

In the interview, Habib, who left Reform in November 2024 over disagreements with Farage and Zia Yusuf, alleged “The 2019 general election was sewn up between Nigel Farage, Christopher Harborne and Boris Johnson, and it was a monetary deal”.

He added that Harborne could sue him, stating: “He can sue me, if he thinks that I’m lying”. 

In November 2019, Farage announced that the Brexit Party would not field any candidates against the Conservatives in the 317 seats they won in the 2017 election.

Farage entered into the alliance, saying he felt reassured after Johnson said he would not accept an extension of the transition period for Britain leaving the EU beyond the end of 2020.

In November 2022, Harborne donated £1 million to The Office of Boris Johnson Ltd. Habib alleges that Farage also received £1 million.

The particulars of Harborne’s claim against Habib have now been published, and put before the court by Harborne’s lawyers, Shillings.

The document, which sets out the detailed facts, legal basis, and remedy sought by Harborne, accuses Habib’s statement of being “defamatory”.

It also states that “the Claimant’s [Harborne] reputation was seriously harmed” and that he “has suffered distress” as a result of Habib’s allegation.

The document does not disclose how much the British-Thai billionaire will be seeking in damages from Habib. 

Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward

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Jane Stevenson, the former Conservative MP for Wolverhampton North East, announced that she was joining Reform yesterday.

In an X post on 17 January, Yusuf declared a “Huge announcement from Reform”

He said: “After May 7th 2026, Reform will accept NO MORE Tories.

“That means MPs. It means former MPs. It means councillors. Tick tock.”

This prompted the Labour Press account on X to post: “Zia, they’re ignoring you.”

Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty also wrote: “Sad to see @ZiaYusufUK so publicly undermined like this.”

Despite the four-month delay in Stevenson announcing her defection, Yusuf dismissed the claim, saying that she joined the party before the 7 May cutoff.

Yusuf wrote: “Wrong. She joined *before* the May 7th deadline. As she has already said on here.

“Literally the government’s press team and you can’t even get basic facts right.”

One X user questioned the delay in Stevenson announcing her defection, stating: “Jane Stevenson says she joined Reform before the May 7th cut-off. So why wait FOUR MONTHS to announce it?”.

Responding to a post by GB News presenter Christopher Hope, Stevenson said: “Chris, after a break from party politics, I quietly joined online before the deadline. Didn’t know if I’d get involved, but decided to go to Conference to see how I felt. My long Facebook post from yesterday says I joined months ago.”

Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward

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