Where's the cash coming from, Nige? Keir Starmer challenges Farage over Reform's £85bn spending plans - as party leader promotes Bitcoin in Vegas
The Prime Minister joined the Tories in taking aim at Mr Farage's economic literacy today after he unveiled plans for an £85billion spending splurge if Reform wins power.
Mr Farage has sought to woo working class Labour voters by leaning left with support for scrapping the two-child benefit cap and fully reinstating winter fuel payments.
But he simultaneously backs a series of tax cuts, which left experts at the Institute for Fiscal Studies saying there could be an £85billion hole in the maths.
That would dwarfs the £45billion of unfunded tax cuts announced by former Tory Prime Minister Liz Truss in her disastrous 2022 mini-Budget.
Sir Keir further questioned his ability this morning, pointing out that Mr Farage, the Clacton MP, is currently in Las Vegas to speak at a conference promoting bitcoin.
Speaking in Warrington Sir Keir said: Can you trust him? Can you trust him with your future? Can you trust him with your jobs? Can you trust him with your mortgages, your pensions, your bills?
'And he gave the answer on Tuesday. A resounding no.'
He added: 'Apparently (Mr Farage) is in Las Vegas today at a casino, and it's not a surprise, because he said that the Liz Truss budget in his view was the best since 1986. That shows his judgment.'
The Prime Minister joined the Tories in taking aim at Mr Farage's economic literacy today after he unveiled plans for an £85billion spending splurge if Reform wins power.
And even Reform supporters raised eyebrows as the cost of the package announced by Mr Farage.
Commentator Tim Montgomerie, founder of the Con Home political website, said: 'The sums don't add up.'
Reform wants to raise the tax-free income allowance to £20,000 and pledged a transferable marriage tax allowance if his party wins the next election, aimed at incentivising marriage and encouraging people to have more children by making it more affordable.
It would exempt one spouse from paying any tax on the first £25,000 of their income, as revealed by the Mail.
Speaking at an event at a business in north-west England, the Prime Minister said Mr Farage would not have protected jobs in industries subject to tariffs from the US, and compared him to Ms Truss.
Sir Keir said: 'We protected those jobs. Would Nigel Farage have done the same? Absolutely not.'
Mr Farage insisted the pledges were 'credible' and could be paid for by scrapping the Net Zero agenda, which he claimed was costing £45billion a year.
Mr Farage praised Liz Truss's mini-Budget in 2022 - which triggered a market meltdown.
He said an extra £4billion annually could be saved from ditching accommodation for asylum seekers by deporting them and £7billion by ending the public sector's diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) drive.
A further £65billion could be saved over five years by cutting quango bureaucracy by 5 per cent, he added, giving an average saving of £69billion annually overall.
But experts said raising the basic rate of income tax threshold to £20,000 could alone cost up to £80billion.
At present, workers pay the 20 per cent rate of income tax on everything between £12,570 and £50,270. Lifting the two-child benefit cap would cost an extra £3.5billion and reinstating the winter fuel allowance £1.5billion.
The eagerly anticipated speech was the most policy-heavy since Reform won four million votes and five seats last July.
Asked if he had a 'magic money tree', Mr Farage admitted his sums were 'slightly optimistic' but added: 'We can't afford Net Zero, it's destroying the country; we can't afford DEI, it's actually preventing many talented people from succeeding; and we certainly can't afford young undocumented males crossing the English Channel and living in five-star hotels.
'You can argue about numbers adding up. You can probably argue that at no point in the history of any form of government has anybody ever thought the numbers added up.'
The Conservatives last night branded the package 'fantasy' economics and 'Corbynism in a different colour' because of the 'billions in unfunded commitments'.
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