Reform UK has rowed back on its so-called “contract with the people”, saying it was supposed to be more of a “philosophy of what the party wants to achieve rather than policy details”.
Speaking to the Independent, the party’s new chair, Zia Yusuf said the faux manifesto unveiled by Nigel Farage in Merthyr Tydfil wasn’t supposed to be taken too literally.
Instead, he said, it should be considered “more as a philosophy” of where the party wants to head over time.
When the “contract with the people” (so-called because Mr Farage claimed manifestos were considered to be lies) was launched in Wales ahead of the General Election it was lampooned for being “Liz Truss economics on steroids”.
The party promised £140 billion in tax cuts including raising the threshold of income tax to £20,000, claiming it could find £156 billion in spending cuts.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank said the plans were based on “extremely optimist assumptions” about growth and the sums “do not add up”, meaning the manifesto as a whole was “problematic”.
But speaking to The Independent, Yusuf said that the contract with the people should now be considered in a new light.
Addressing the problematic sums, he said: “They don’t add up on the basis that you implement everything in there on day one for arriving in Downing Street. That’s fair. But that was never going to be the plan.”
Addressing concerns over the structure of the party, which currently operates as a limited company with Farage as the major shareholder, Yusuf said:
“We’re a serious political party. This isn’t a pressure group, and Nigel has been on the record, as has Richard Tice, multiple times, saying, of course, after the general election, we look at the structure, and that was the right thing to do.
“As we look forward, you know, our stated goal is to elect Nigel Farage into Downing Street in 2029. In order to do that clearly the party needs a constitution, and it needs a structure fit for purpose.
“We have the huge advantage of the fact that Nigel has unanimous and universal support for some members right now that is unequivocal and clear. So what we’re working [on] is drafting a constitution, of course, that will have mechanisms by which leaders can be removed and leaders can be selected.”
The party aims to increase its votes by 5 million to 9 million in 2029.
To achieve that, Yusuf says they will take inspiration from Marine Le Pen’s campaign in France and the far-right Alternative for Germany, which is predicted to make significant gains in the elections.
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