Farage's OBR attack exposes Reform's economic weakness

Nigel Farage says that the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is “a Blairite-style quango” in an interview with The Telegraph yesterday – as if being Blairite is a bad thing.

- JOHN RENTOUL

“I have questioned the need for it,” he says. “We have to discuss whether we would be better off without the OBR. I am giving that very serious thought.”

This could turn out to be a significant moment. The Independent’s poll suggested that allegations that Farage was a racist bully at school did not affect his popularity. But if voters think that he would struggle to manage the public finances, that may prove far more damaging, and could yet turn them away from voting for Reform.

The democratic argument against the OBR is an obvious temptation for Farage. His case against the “Blairite-style quango” is that it is “effectively dictating to elected politicians what they should or should not do”.

That complaint is heard on both left and right: that the OBR prevents politicians from giving people what they want. It mirrors the argument against the independence of the Bank of England in setting interest rates - another Blairite innovation that constrains elected politicians. Farage and Richard Tice, Reform’s deputy leader, have also hinted at ending the Bank’s independence.