Reform and Tories aligned on Spending Review criticism
Reform UK has described government spending plans as being “completely out of control” after Rachel Reeves unveiled a package of measures that would increase spending by nearly £200bn over the course of the parliament.
Responding to the Chancellor’s Spending Review, Reform Deputy Richard Tice said: “inflation is up, unemployment is up, government borrowing is up, and the cost of government borrowing is up.”
The remarks mirror Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch’s censure during Prime Minister’s Questions, when she blasted that “since Labour took office, inflation has nearly doubled, growth has halved, and employment has surged.”
The Spending Review saw billions go towards nuclear energy, regional transport infrastructure, tech, steel, and the NHS.
But Reform, the Tories, and think tanks have expressed concerns that this spending will need to be financed through tax rises.
Reform sucked into the black hole rhetoric
Chancellor Rachel Reeves presented this spending spree as an outcome of “unpopular decisions” – namely, an Autumn Budget which saw taxes rise in a number of areas – which provided her with the cash to upgrade some of the UK’s public services.
For Reeves, these decisions were necessary “to fix the foundations of our economy,” accusing the previous government of having left a “£22bn black hole” in public finances.
Tice said: “the chancellor inherited supposedly a black hole, and she’s dug a crater.” The Tories also frequently deny they left a gap in Treasury coffers.
Farage’s deputy claimed that the party had identified hundreds of millions in savings across the ten councils that turned Reform-blue in the recent local elections, such as Kent and Durham.
“This is why Reform is leading in the polls.”
Job losses
“250,000 jobs are disappearing since the blunder budget,” the Reform deputy said.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer denied the charge when it was made by Badenoch that morning, citing that there are 500,000 more people in work since Labour entered office. This week official figures showed the UK unemployment rate has ticked up.
Zia Yusuf, formerly Reform UK’s chairman, currently their head of “UK DOGE,” accused the chancellor of “destroying the British economy,” claiming that “A quarter of a million are no longer working since Labour’s budget.”
Reeves preempts the attack
In her speech, Reeves criticised Reform’s MPs – who, critics note, could ‘fit in a Nissan Micra’ – as having “racked up £80bn of unfunded commitments” since the elections. “They are simply not serious.”
Reform and Tory disagree on numbers
Despite the two opposition parties being aligned on their criticism of the Labour government’s economic policies, this has not naturally led to an alliance.
Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride said Reform leader Nigel Farage is “rattled by me having the temerity to call him out.
“He knows perfectly well that his numbers don’t add up. Reform would be an even greater threat to the economy than Labour.”
Farage responded with a meme implying Stride is ‘irrelevant’ and unknown.