Nigel Farage has said Reform UK could cut the minimum wage for young people, saying there is “an argument” that it is currently “too high”.
Speaking at a news conference, he also said his manifesto promises at the last general election to bring in sweeping tax cuts were “only ever aspirations”, and “substantial tax cuts” are “not realistic”.
In a broader defence of his insurgent party, Mr Farage insisted Reform UK is “not a one-man band”, and he is building a team with expertise across a wide range of policy areas.
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The Reform UK leader made the comments in a speech and news conference with journalists in the City of London in which he pledged the party would be “the most pro-business, the most pro-entrepreneurship government that has been seen in this country in modern times”.
Asked in the news conference afterwards if he believes the minimum wage is too high, Mr Farage replied: “There’s an argument that minimum wage is too high for younger workers, particularly given that we’ve lowered the level at which NIC [employers’ national insurance] is paid to £5,000 a year.”
This is a reference to Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s decision at the last budget to reduce the threshold at which employers start paying national insurance contributions from £9,100 per year in salary to £5,000.
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Making the argument that the change puts too much of a tax burden on businesses, stifling growth, Mr Farage told the chancellor to “do one or the other, do one or the other – either lift the cap at which NI is due, or lower the minimum wage for younger workers”.
The current hourly national minimum wage for apprentices and people under 18 is £7.55, for 18-20 year olds is £10, and for aged 21 and over is £12.21.
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Manifesto tax cuts ‘only ever aspirations’
But Mr Farage is also being accused of U-turning on the tax cuts he pledged in Reform UK’s 2024 general election manifesto, which was called “Our Contract With You”.
Key measures in the document included raising the minimum threshold of income tax to £20,000, raising the higher rate threshold from £50,271 to £70,000, abolishing stamp duty for properties below £750,000, and abolishing taxes on inheritances below £2m.
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But speaking on Monday, the Reform UK leader said: “We want to cut taxes. Of course, we do. But we understand – substantial tax cuts, given the dire state of debt and our finances, are not realistic at this current moment in time.”
He said he would make “some relatively modest changes” immediately, which included scrapping the inheritance tax imposed on family farms, as well as family-run business, and “raise the thresholds at which people start to pay tax” – although he was not specific about the level at which he would put the thresholds.
Challenged by a journalist on whether he is breaking his promises in order to join the mainstream of economic thinking, the Reform UK leader insisted the promises included in the party’s 2024 manifesto “were only ever aspirations”, and the changes made today are about the party “being realistic about the state of the economy”.
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‘It’s not a one-man band’
Mr Farage also insisted that the Reform UK project is not his alone, saying they will be announcing new people to cover various different policy areas in the coming weeks.
He said: “What I’ve tried to do really hard this year is to get away from this idea, this criticism, that somehow it’s a one-man band. It’s not a one-man band.
“There’s a broadening team. They’re sitting there in front of you on the front row – from David Bull, to Lee Anderson, to Richard Tice, to Danny Kruger, and indeed Zia Yusuf as well. And there are others, and there’ll be more.”
He also explained he is not yet ready to say who his chancellor might be, or who would fill the top cabinet roles in a potential future Reform government.
Reform UK is ‘in chaos’
In response to the speech, a Labour Party spokesperson said: “Nigel Farage has promised a return to damaging austerity, taking an axe to public services, with no cuts off the table. He complained the minimum wage is too high for young workers, while doubling down on his golden giveaway to foreign billionaires.
“Reform would slash the NHS, schools, and pensions – and cancel Labour’s investment in local roads, rail, and clean energy, putting millions of jobs at risk and wreaking havoc on family finances.
“Only this Labour government is fixing the long-term damage to our economy to renew Britain.
And the Conservative shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride said Mr Farage “left the public with far more questions than answers” by not specifying which parts of his manifesto his party stands by.
He added Reform could not be taken seriously on the economy “when their promises disintegrate after five minutes, and they remain committed to extra welfare spending and a huge expansion of the state”.
“After this rambling, incoherent speech, it is clear Reform’s economy policy is in chaos,” Sir Mel said.
“Farage might claim he’s not a ‘one-man band’, but he can’t even tell us who his chancellor would be. This is not serious, it is just more announcements without a plan.”
