Reform UK £9obn tax cuts promised in manifesto not possible - Tice

Reform UK’s deputy leader has admitted the party cannot deliver the £90bn in tax cuts promised in its manifesto, saying it would concentrate on public spending cuts if it was elected to government.

- Jessica Elgot Deputy political editor

Richard Tice said central election pledges such as lifting the income tax threshold would be an “aspiration” and that in government Reform would concentrate on cutting the civil service and scrapping net zero.

Reform’s leader, Nigel Farage, is said to be planning a speech next month to overhaul the party’s economic policy - which Labour and the Conservatives see as a significant weakness. The Times reported that Farage would promise to reduce spending before reducing taxes.

Farage previously said he expected to make £350bn worth of spending cuts over the course of the parliament - the equivalent of axing the whole schools budget every year or wiping out a third of NHS funding annually.