‘Well-known' figures want to join Reform UK cabinet, Farage claims

Yahoo

6 hours ago

A Reform UK cabinet could include people from outside Parliament, Nigel Farage has said.
During an LBC phone-in on Thursday, the Reform UK leader said it was 'nonsense' that ministers 'must all be politicians in the House of Commons' and suggested following the US example where cabinet members have often never stood for election.
He said: 'I really mean this, I do think that you've got to think a little bit more about running the public finances as if you're running a business.'
Asked if there were any names he was considering, he declined to say, but added: 'I'm amazed by the conversations we're having already.'
He said: 'Some of them are very well-known people.
'This country is in economic, social and cultural decline, we are in big trouble, and a lot of people recognise that if this is not turned around within the next decade, the place will, frankly, not be worth living in.'
In the wide-ranging phone-in, he also said he wanted to be prime minister because he did not 'see anybody else with the guts to take on the really tough issues this country faces and turn it round'.
Asked whether he supported same-sex marriage, which he previously opposed, he would only say it was a 'settled issue', and he described a recent Commons vote to decriminalise women who have abortions after the 24-week limit as 'disturbing'.
Mr Farage also ruled out banning non-stunned meat, such as kosher and halal products, saying he did not 'like it' but there were 'more important, more urgent priorities'.
He also called for US President Donald Trump to be allowed to address Parliament when he comes to the UK later this year, after he was barred from doing so on his previous state visit.