“Does this man believe in anything?”
Reform UK’s Nigel Farage has said that cabinet ministers should not be politicians, leading to accusations that he wishes to make UK government unaccountable.
Farage, who spent years campaigning against an alleged ‘democratic deficit’ in the EU, has now been accused of wanting to advocate for exactly the very same system of unaccountable leaders and bureaucrats he once fought against.
Appearing on LBC, Farage said: “I think the way we run our country is ridiculous, we put cabinet ministers in charge of departments, over which they have absolutely zero knowledge. They’ll often last in that job for 12-18 months, I mean barely time to get their feet under the table, and understand the brief, but we’re stuck in this mindset that the cabinet must all be politicians in the House of Commons. Why? It’s nonsense.”
Farage then went on to cite the example of the U.S. and Scott Bessent as the US Treasury Secretary, who he praised despite never having stood for election in his life.
Farage refused to tell Nick Ferrari what a cabinet under him would look like, but didn’t rule out the idea of businessman, for example, featuring in it.
He then went on to say: “I really do think that you’ve got to think a little bit more about running the public finances as if you’re running a business.”
Reacting to Farage’s comment, one social media user wrote on X: “The desperately politically inept just trying to follow the orange blob from the US – we elect our MPs and our Cabinet for the very purpose that they are then accountable to the people.
“Some fantasy US dream run by money men and dubious think tanks is not how we do business.”
Another added: “A man who spent years campaigning against the democratic deficit of the EU and the Commission, now advocating for *exactly* the very same system of unaccountable leaders and bureaucrats – who you can’t remove at the ballot box.
“Does this man believe in anything?”
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
Left Foot Forward doesn’t have the backing of big business or billionaires. We rely on the kind and generous support of ordinary people like you.
You can support hard-hitting journalism that holds the right to account, provides a forum for debate among progressives, and covers the stories the rest of the media ignore. Donate today.
