Keir Starmer will accuse the Reform UK leader Nigel Farage of gambling with family finances and mortgages in ‘mad experiment’ with uncosted pledges and tax giveaways
Keir Starmer will today hit back at Nigel Farage’s “fantasy” economics – comparing the Reform UK leader to disaster PM Liz Truss.
The Prime Minister will accuse Mr Farage of gambling with family finances and mortgages in “mad experiment” with uncosted pledges. He will warn the result will be the same as Ms Truss, who caused market mayhem with her mini-Budget and was turfed out of office after 49 days.
It comes after the leader of the right-wing party used a major speech on Tuesday to unveil new policies costing tens of billions. Among them he said his “biggest aspiration” was to lift the level at which people start paying tax to £20,000.
Responding to the pledge, the respected Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said it would be a “substantial increase” on the existing £12,570. They added: “Without more detail it’s not possible to put a precise number on the cost of this promise, but it could easily be in the range of £50 to £80 billion a year.”
Mr Farage also committed to scrapping the two-child benefit limit, which Labour is examining as part of a child poverty strategy, restoring the winter fuel payments, and tax breaks for married couples. He claimed he’d be able to pay for the policies through scrapping net zero and diversity and inclusion programmes – but provided little detail.
But speaking to workers at a manufacturing business in the North West today, Mr Starmer said: “In opposition we said Liz Truss would crash the economy and leave you to pick the bill. We were right. And we were elected to fix that mess.
“Now in government, we are once again fighting the same fantasy – this time from Nigel Farage. Farage is making the exact same bet Liz Truss did. That you can spend tens of billions on tax cuts without a proper way of paying for it.
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“And just like Truss, he is using your family finances, your mortgage, your bills as a gambling chip on his mad experiment. The result will be the same. “
He will add: “Liz Truss bet the house and lost. £45 billion in unfunded tax cuts, with no means to pay for them. Markets reacted, the economy tanked and we’re all still paying the price for mortgages, rents and bills that spiralled out of control. I won’t let that happen. Labour’s Plan for Change has stabilised the economy, with growth at the fastest rate in the G7 this year, four cuts to interest rates, and a pay boost for 3.5 million low paid workers.”
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