Reform UK piles fresh pressure on Rishi Sunak with radical promises on tax and immigration

Reform leader Richard Tice said: ‘Labour and Tory governments have broken promise after promise... they have destroyed trust in our democracy and let down the British people.’

Reform UK has launched its latest attack on the Tories, with leader Richard Tice setting out a radical set of policies designed to win over disgruntled Conservative voters.

With the tax burden at a record high and migration soaring, Mr Tice proposed a drastic programme of tax giveaways and immigration curbs to shore up Reform’s support.

In a so-called “contract with you”, a draft of the party’s general election manifesto, he accused the Tories of having “broken Britain”, pledging to pull the country out of the European Court of Human Rights and freeze “non-essential migration”.

Mr Tice was met with cheers from a room of more than 1,000 predominantly older Reform candidates, supporters and activists as he also took aim at international bodies such as the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the World Economic Forum.

Reform Party leader Richard Tice has accused the Tories of ‘breaking’ Britain (PA Wire)

“I don’t think we need anything to do with the World Economic Forum… I’m not sure we want anything to do with the WHO,” he told a packed rally at Doncaster Racecourse.

Elsewhere in the speech, Mr Tice took aim at the “crony-filled” House of Lords and warned “Starmergeddon” would ensue under a Labour government.

Reform, which was set up by Nigel Farage as the Brexit Party, poses a serious challenge for the Conservatives at the general election, expected this autumn.

Pollsters have warned that, with current polls putting its support at around 10 per cent, it could split the vote in as many as 30 seats, adding to scale of Rishi Sunak’s expected defeat.

Richard Tice has warned Britain faces ‘Starmergeddon’ if Labour win the general election (Reform UK)

It has already posed major challenges to the Conservatives in a series of by-elections, most recently in the Kingswood and Wellingborough contests, where its 10 per cent poll rating was borne out at the ballot box for the first time.

Pollsters have also warned that if Mr Farage returns to take up a formal role with the party its polling numbers could surge, leading to even more Tory losses. But Mr Farage failed to appear at Saturday’s rally amid mounting speculation he will have a place in Reform’s election campaign.

Mr Tice used Saturday’s rally to throw even more red meat to those who backed Boris Johnson’s Tories in 2019, who are now fed up with rising taxes and spiralling migration figures.

In what would be one of the most dramatic tax shakeups in a generation, Reform outlined plans to raise the threshold to charge the higher 40p rate of income tax from £50,000 to £70,000.

It also promised to raise the threshold for the basic rate of income tax from £12,570 to £20,000.

And Reform pledged to hike the stamp duty threshold, abolish inheritance tax for estates worth less than £2m and slash corporation tax.

Its wide-ranging “contract with you” document, which was handed out at the rally, also set out measures to address issues such as the rising cost of living and revitalising Britain’s fishing fleet.

But, as it seeks ruthlessly to attack the Conservatives, the most drastic proposals were around tax and immigration. It said the British people have been “lied to, ignored and betrayed” over immigration and promised a freeze that would only allow in those with the skills “our economy needs” such as nurses, doctors and successful business people.

It also set out a six-point plan to stop the boats, one of Mr Sunak’s key promises to voters, which would see those crossing the channel in small boats sent immediately back to France and see Britain withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights.

And, while the party’s policies are likely never to make it out of the “contract with you” document, it concludes with a two-page costing exercise concluding that they would save the taxpayer a total of £156bn per year.

In contrast, its spending pledges on the economy, NHS, policing and fishing and other areas would cost just £141bn, it said.

Launching the pledge, Mr Tice said: “Labour and Tory governments have broken promise after promise. They have destroyed trust in our democracy and let down the British people.

“There is an alternative, the British people have a real common sense choice in Reform UK.

“Once and for all, we will take back control over our borders, our money and our laws. Reform UK will secure Britain’s future as a free, proud and independent sovereign nation.”