{"id":942214,"date":"2026-05-06T19:50:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T19:50:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/942214\/"},"modified":"2026-05-06T19:50:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T19:50:23","slug":"higher-bills-nhs-changes-and-your-rights-removed-heres-what-reform-will-really-mean-for-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/942214\/","title":{"rendered":"Higher bills, NHS changes and your rights removed: Here’s what Reform will really mean for you"},"content":{"rendered":"

As voters head to polling stations in the crunch May elections, experts raised concerns over the impact Nigel Farage’s party could have on hard-working families<\/p>\n

18:59, 06 May 2026Updated 20:25, 06 May 2026<\/p>\n

\"Nigel<\/p>\n

Nigel Farage was accused of plotting to rip up workers rights and send bills skyrocketing (Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Reform UK <\/a>would rip away rights and bring in policies that would see your bills soar, Brits have been warned.<\/p>\n

As voters head to polling stations in the crunch May elections, experts raised concerns over the impact Nigel Farage’s party could have<\/a> on hard-working families.<\/p>\n

Millions of voters will decide crucial elections across England, Wales and Scotland<\/a> on Thursday, in a contests that represents Labour’s biggest electoral test<\/a> since Keir Starmer<\/a> won a landslide victory in 2024. Many will vote on local issues, but they will also likely have the national picture in mind. Pollsters have predicted that Labour<\/a> could lose hundreds of councillors in England, lose control in Wales and slump to third in Scotland.<\/p>\n

Unions, charities, and think tanks all warned against backing Reform, claiming their policies would hit voters in their wallets and see hard-fought for rights taken away. Reform has threatened to scrap climate measures, bring back the two-child benefit cap, and axe boosts to workers rights. It comes as the PM urged the public to choose \u201cunity over division\u201d and vote Labour, rejecting Mr Farage.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Zack Polanski admits false claim about British Red Cross charity role<\/a>READ MORE: Keir Starmer urges Brits ‘choose progress over politics of anger’ and details what Labour’s delivered so far<\/a>\"UNISON<\/p>\n

UNISON general secretary Andrea Egan warned Nigel Farage wanted to move the NHS into an insurance-based model(Image: Facebook)<\/p>\n

Public service cuts<\/p>\n

Fears were raised that putting Reform in charge of town halls would give Mr Farage’s underlings a green light to slash vital services. Last week Labour released a scathing dossier pointing to cuts Reform UK has made in councils it heads over the past year.<\/p>\n

These include bus services in Durham, drug and alcohol reduction services in Lincolnshire, and \u00a32.8million carved from school building projects in Nottinghamshire. And it pointed to Warwickshire’s council leader, George Finch, floating the idea of making schoolkids walk up to five miles before qualifying for free transport.<\/p>\n

Health and social care<\/p>\n

There are also concerns over care homes, after Reform UK councillors faced a series of protests over plans to closure five in Lancashire. A group of residents including former nurse Dorothy Devereux, 93, wrote an open letter published by the Mirror<\/a>, urging voters to help stop Mr Farage\u2019s party winning any more council seats.<\/p>\n

UNISON general secretary Andrea Egan also warned Reform UK favoured a US-style health insurance system, which could damage the NHS<\/a>. She said: \u201cNigel Farage<\/a> has tied himself in knots trying to deny it, but he’s on record saying he\u2019d look at a US-style, insurance-based system for healthcare in this country. Floundering Farage and his Tory turncoats aren’t the people who should be trusted to run our NHS, education system or local councils.\u201d<\/p>\n

Education<\/p>\n

A Reform UK government would require every school to mount a picture of the King, fly the Union flag and would introduce \u201cpatriotic\u201d history classes. Daniel Kebede, the General Secretary of the National Education Union, warned a Reform would be a \u201cdisaster for education\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cPreying on the economic insecurity of working people, the lack of secure jobs and decent housing and trying to blame migrants, refugees and LGBT+ people for the ills of society is not a solution. A party that offers anger instead of solutions, and scapegoats instead of answers is a million miles away from what our schools and children and young people need”.<\/p>\n

There are also fears over support for children with special educational needs (SEND), with Mr Farage questioning the way children are diagnosed, prompting a furious response from charities and experts. Speaking at the time, the National Autistic Society accused him of \u201cspreading disinformation\u201d and \u201cperpetuating stigmas\u201d.<\/p>\n

Council tax<\/p>\n

In a fierce attack last week, Labour said that despite local associations and candidates vowing to cut taxes, bills have gone up in Reform-controlled areas. In Derbyshire, it points out, leaflets ahead of elections last year vowed to “cut your taxes”. But instead, the local authority confirmed it would raise council tax by 4.9%.<\/p>\n

Reform insists that the promises on election leaflets were national pledges, similar to stopping the boats. The party claims it never vowed to cut council tax.<\/p>\n

In Kent, Reform took over after distributing leaflets vowing to \u201creduce waste and cut your taxes\u201d. But in January it announced council tax would go up by an above-inflation 3.99%.<\/p>\n

When challenged about the wording earlier this year, Mr Farage told ITV<\/a>: “Well, cutting taxes could mean not putting them up as much, I suppose. But I never promised cuts in council tax.”<\/p>\n

Workers rights<\/p>\n

There were also warnings Reform UK would rip up Labour’s workers rights’ package, which includes bans on exploitative zero hours contracts, and fire and rehire, as well as strengthened sick pay, protections against unfair dismissal and entitlements to parental leave.<\/p>\n

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said: \u201cReform and Nigel Farage are hellbent on stealing away our hard-won rights. Farage wants to legalise discrimination and strip working people of essentials like day-one sick pay and a fairer minimum wage. Farage likes to claim he\u2019s taking on the elites. But the reality is, he wants to hand more power to vested interests and his wealthy corporate backers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TUC<\/p>\n

TUC boss Paul Nowak warned Reform would rip up workers rights(Image: Philip Coburn\/Daily Mirror)<\/p>\n

Housing<\/p>\n

The party has been branded a threat to renters, with the party\u2019s business spokesperson, Richard Tice, having pledged to scrap Labour legislation on protection for tenants. Responding, Clara Collingwood, Director at the Renters’ Reform Coalition, warned it would drive up homelessness.<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cIt’s one of the most popular policies out there – over 70% of the public back an end to section 21 evictions. Reform have said they will roll back the Renters’ Rights Act. But scrapping this crucial legislation would be a huge setback for the one in five of us who rent our home and a gift to rogue landlords that neglect their tenants.”<\/p>\n

Climate change and bills<\/p>\n

There were also warnings over Reform\u2019s pledge to \u201cscrap net zero” and axe the Energy Profits Levy, which Greenpeace UK\u2019s head of politics Ami McCarthy claimed would see bills soar.<\/p>\n

They said: “Reform’s manifesto promises show they care about our environment and people struggling to pay their bills about as much as the fossil fuel billionaires who bankroll their party. They want to keep us hooked on oil and gas, even though renewables can provide power up to nine times cheaper than gas.”<\/p>\n

Simon Francis, coordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, added: \u201cScrapping the windfall tax would be a handout to the very companies that have made billions from the energy crisis, at the direct expense of the millions of households still struggling to afford their bills.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Labour<\/p>\n

Labour MP Tom Hayes warned Reform would plunge more children into poverty<\/p>\n

Child Poverty<\/p>\n

Anti-poverty campaigner and Labour MP Tom Hayes raised concerns over child poverty, citing Reform’s pledge to restore the cruel two-child benefit cap. He said: \u201cNigel Farage says this is about feeding dependency. No, it\u2019s about feeding hungry children. That\u2019s the right thing to do. No family should be left to carry that burden alone and, while Nigel Farage opposes lifting kids out of poverty, Labour is investing in the future of our great country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Former women and equalities minister Anneliese Dodds<\/a> added: “We\u2019ve removed the terrible two-child benefit cap. This will get nearly half a million children out of poverty. But Nigel Farage opposes all of this and would rip that away. That would plunge kids back into misery, mean less money in parents\u2019 pockets, and hungry bellies in the classroom. Reform are not on your side.”<\/p>\n

Responding, a Reform UK spokesman said: \u201cLabour\u2019s union paymasters are now in full panic, finally realising their party is staring down a historic wipeout in its traditional heartlands at the hands of Reform UK. These union bosses will be remembered as political dinosaurs: completely detached from their own members, who increasingly recognise that the Labour Party<\/a> has become the party of welfare, while Reform UK is party of working people.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As voters head to polling stations in the crunch May elections, experts raised concerns over the impact Nigel…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":942215,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[345,2311,527,105462,6332,528,12,211,384,285,37122,263166,16,80396,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-942214","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uk","8":"category-united-kingdom","9":"tag-benefits","10":"tag-climate-change","11":"tag-conservative-party","12":"tag-greenpeace-uk","13":"tag-homelessness","14":"tag-labour-party","15":"tag-news","16":"tag-nhs","17":"tag-nigel-farage","18":"tag-politics","19":"tag-public-services","20":"tag-trades-union-congress","21":"tag-uk","22":"tag-unison","23":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116529374569200057","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/942214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=942214"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/942214\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/942215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=942214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=942214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=942214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}