So much for looking out for ordinary folk!
Nigel Farage and Reform UK have been keen to portray themselves as the party of working people and lower taxes and yet, now that they’ve had a bit of a reality check, they’ve confirmed that lowering council tax isn’t their priority.
So much for looking out for ordinary folk! On a recent visit to North Northamptonshire Council, which Reform took control of following local elections in May, Farage confirmed that ‘cutting wasteful expenditure’ was a bigger priority than lowering council tax bills for residents.
Farage was reported by ITV as saying: “I think our priority is to reduce waste wherever we find it.
“Our priority is to look at how services are delivered, and to see whether we might negotiate better contracts.
“And that is a bigger priority than cutting council tax at this moment in time.”
The party has set up an Elon Musk-style Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) unit to target waste in councils, with the first team visiting Kent County Council in June.
Concerns have been raised about Reform’s Doge unit, which many have slammed as nothing but a stunt after its US equivalent was repeatedly hit by scandals while failing to cut as much waste as it hoped.
Reform was mocked when it first announced its newly formed Doge unit would be going into Kent, not least of all because its US equivalent has been deemed as a failure by many.
It caused turmoil in the US after firing thousands of federal workers and was hit by a number of scandals. In one such incident, the administration scrambled to hire back probationary employees let go from the agency overseeing nuclear weapons.
Doge’s public-facing website detailing its cuts became known for errors, but currently says it has only saved $175bn – much less than Musk’s goal which was around $1tn.
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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