Starmer to hammer 'fantasy economics'

LONDON: Keir Starmer was expected to hit back at what he described as Nigel Farage’s “fantasy economics”, in the latest sign that the Labour prime minister believes he must act to arrest Reform UK's surge in opinion polls.

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Mr Starmer was to argue yesterday that tax-and-spend policies like those laid out by Mr Farage earlier this week would risk a market meltdown similar to the “mini-budget” crisis that prompted then-Conservative prime minister Liz Truss to step down after weeks in office in 2022, according to a statement from the Labour Party.

The Reform leader promised, among other things, to lift the point at which workers start paying income tax to £20,000 (882,000 baht) from £12,570, which the Institute for Fiscal Studies said could cost in excess of £50 billion annually.