Nigel Farage wants to be Prime Minister, and has made a series of promises to try and make it happen.
Whether it’s mass deportations, slashing hundreds of billions of spending, or tax cuts for the super-rich, Reform UK has set out their pitch to voters. The PM told ministers last week that 2026 “would be the year that Britain turned renewal into reality”, with a series of major policies set to come into force next year. This includes an increase in neighbourhood policing, the lifting of the two child benefit cap, a rail fares freeze and a planned cut in energy bills.
Despite Reform’s lead in the polls, Mr Farage still had an approval rating of -4 in Mirror polling last week, and the public still don’t trust his party on a series of issues. Here are some of those policies, and what they mean for you.
READ MORE: Poll warning for Keir Starmer ahead of 2026
Kevin Maguire
Reform UK have a series of controversial policies
Hundreds of billions of unspecified public spending cuts
Reform has pledged to reduce the size of the state to 35% of GDP, which would require nearly ÂŁ300 billion of public spending cuts.
Deputy leader Richard Tice made the claim on the Politics Inside Out podcast, an aspiration that would savage ÂŁ274 billion cut from government budgets, based on current GDP figures.
Reform UK has not specified where the cuts would fall, but former PM Gordon Brown has claimed it would likely be schools and hospitals hit hardest.
Richard Tice wants to slash the size of the state(Image: Getty Images)
Cut the NHS by ÂŁ26 billion
Reform UK have suggested cutting the NHS by ÂŁ26 billion and giving tax breaks to people who can afford private healthcare.
In May of this year, Mr Tice said “instead of giving ÂŁ26bn to the already bloated wasteful NHS, we proposed easing pressure on the health service by incentivising those who can afford to pay more to go independent with a tax break.”
Replacing the NHS with an insurance model
Mr Farage has previously claimed he does not think the NHS should be funded through general taxation, and is open to funding it through insurance instead.
Appearing on LBC earlier this year, he was asked if he was open to an “insurance based model?”. The former banker answered he was “open to anything”.
He doubled down on these comments appearing on Sky News, saying he did not “want it funded through general taxation. It doesn’t work. It’s not working.”
While the Reform UK leader has not committed to any particular plan, he has refused to rule out. He has said: “I just want to try and find a way where this vast amount of money gets us a better delivery. And by the way, I don’t know the answer yet, but I’m thinking about all the options.”
Cut taxes for foreign millionaires and billionaires living in the UK
Mr Farage has been accused of plotting a “golden ticket for foreign billionaires” to avoid paying a raft of UK taxes. This would be through something called the Britannia Card – which would see the super-rich from overseas pay ÂŁ250,000 to avoid tax on overseas earnings and inheritance tax.
It would let wealthy tycoons from overseas get “non-dom” tax status if they pay a one-off fee of ÂŁ250,000. However, Labour numbercrunchers say this means less money will be raised for the Treasury, meaning Farage and co would have to raise more money elsewhere.“
Tax expert Dan Neidle says the policy could cost the UK ÂŁ35bn over five years in lost revenue.
Abolish Indefinite Leave to Remain and deport hundreds of thousands of people
In September Mr Farage announced that if he gets into No10, he would scrap indefinite leave to remain (ILR) – meaning hundreds of thousands of legal migrants could face deportation.
Reform UK head of policy Zia Yusuf has said: “Our solution to this problem is to abolish ILR completely. That means no new awards and those who currently hold it will have it rescinded. These changes will lead to hundreds of thousands of people having to apply and ultimately losing their settled status in the UK.”
The PM has branded the policy “racist”, and claimed it would “rip this country apart”.
Nigel Farage poses in front of a mock departures board(Image: Getty Images)
Scrap net zero
Reform has said it will “wage war” on clean energy projects, putting hundreds of thousands of jobs at risk all over the country. Labour say Mr Farage’s “war on clean energy” would threaten over 950,000 jobs in thriving industries across the country.
Analysis found this could starve Welsh industry of investment and deny factories vital investment, threatening 39,873 industrial jobs. Reducing investment in home-grown clean power will also make the UK more reliant on imported gas, which means bills can be hit by global shocks like Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Mr Tice was also condemned earlier this year after he dismissed scientific views on man-made climate as “garbage”.
Earlier this year, a YouGov survey found 60% support the UK’s green pledges, compared to 25% who are opposed.
Allow fracking
Reform UK want to allow fracking – shale gas drilling – all over the country, despite concerns over earthquakes and environmental impacts. Mr Tice has said: “We’ve got potentially hundreds of billions of energy treasure in the form of shale gas. It’s grossly financially negligent to a criminal degree to leave that value underground and not to extract it.”
The party has told energy firms to get ready to drill, despite former Tory energy minister Charles Hendry admitting fracking is “expensive”, “polluting” and “disruptive”.
EU trade war
Mr Farage has been accused of risking a trade war with Europe over plans to strip European Union citizens for claiming benefits in the UK. The right-wing outfit said EU citizens who are claiming universal credit three months notice as part of a transitional period before ending their payments. Reform claimed Mr Farage would renegotiate the benefits element of the Brexit deal – a move that would likely be dismissed in European capitals. If the EU refused to accept the terms, a Reform UK government would likely take unilateral action, regardless of the threat of trade retaliation.
Scrap Online Safety Act
Reform UK want to rip up the Online Safety Act that protects children and adults online, but have failed to say what they would replace it with.
Mr Yusuf has claimed getting rid of it would be “one of the first things a Reform Government does”, and Mr Farage has said he he doesn’t “know what” will replace it.
The Technology Secretary Peter Kyle previously said repealing online safety laws would put Mr Farage on the side of “people out there who are extreme pornographers peddling hate, peddling violence
Scrap workers’ rights
Reform UK wants to scrap the newly-passed Employment Rights Act entirely. Mr Tice has said: “You’ve got to scrap the whole Employment Rights Bill, lock stock and barrel.”
The legislation introduces a raft of new workers’ rights, including a right to paternity leave from day one on the job and a right to sick pay from the first day of illness. It will also ban exploitative zero hours contracts and end controversial ‘fire and rehire’ practices which allow bosses to sack workers and hire them back on worse terms.