REFORM UK will take official command of Warwickshire County Council tomorrow (Friday) with no-one having the faintest notion of how the party will run the authority.
Although people have a rough idea of Reform’s policies at a national level, the party did not issue a manifesto for the county council elections on 1st May.
A ROW erupted on BBC Debate Night over a “racist” political advert published by Reform UK.
Last week, Nigel Farage’s party was accused of “not so much a dog whistle as a foghorn” after it was found to have promoted an advert on Facebook and Instagram which claimed Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar would “prioritise the Pakistani community”.
The quote, which Reform UK falsely attributed to Sarwar, included selected clips from a video which had been spread by far- and alt-right agitators on social media the previous month.
The National revealed how Reform UK have spent more than £10,000 promoting the advert online, despite sparking outrage from across the political spectrum.
Nigel Farage has defended a controversial Reform UK advert about Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar.
Both Labour and First Minister John Swinney have described the online video – posted ahead of a Holyrood by-election – as “blatantly racist”.
At a press conference in London, Farage played the video and accused Sarwar of introducing “sectarianism” into Scottish politics.
The Scottish Labour leader described the claims as “absolute nonsense”.
The Reform advert, posted on Facebook and Instagram, features clips of a 2022 speech Sarwar gave, external at an event celebrating the 75th anniversary of Pakistan’s independence.
Stuart Adam, a senior economist at Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank, said increasing the annual income tax allowance to £20,000 could cost between £50bn and £80bn a year, depending on the details.
“As it stands, I don’t think they’ve really set out how they would pay for such big giveaways,” he said.
“Of course they don’t have to do that yet – we’re not at a general election. But at some point, if they’re going to be a party of government, they would have to make those numbers add up.”
