Nigel Farage's Reform Party Met With Online Ridicule Over 'Ludicrous' Election Pledges
Nigel Farage’s party Reform UK has just unveiled its election pledges to voters for the first time, but it has not landed well online.
The right-wing party has attracted plenty of press attention ever since Farage performed a major U-turn and announced he was taking over as leader and would be standing to be MP in Clacton.
Set up in 2018, Reform, formerly the Brexit Party, secured zero seats in the 2019 general election, and its only MP in the last parliament was Tory defector Lee Anderson.
Since announcing he was standing for parliament for the eighth time, Farage has had objects thrown at him twice – first in Clacton, where he was splashed with a McDonald’s milkshake, and then in northern England while on the campaign trail.
However, his party – which is actually a privately owned company – has recently surged in the polls, even gaining a one point lead over the Conservatives according to one survey from YouGov.
As the party appear to be splitting the traditional Conservative vote, Reform’s supposed “contract” to the public – also known as an election manifesto – has faced heightened publicity.
It included plans to massively increase spending while also cutting taxes, as well as pulling the UK out of the European Convention on Human Rights and freezing all “non-essential” immigration.
That hasn’t really worked out in Reform’s favour though, judging from the social media response.
Many users criticised the party for not having a core message, and suggested it was a childish piece of work.
"Nigel Farage would like some more attention" is their central story. But they can't really put it like that. https://t.co/vS01ISTKIe
— Sam Freedman (@Samfr) June 17, 2024
That Reform UK launch in full pic.twitter.com/Em91gc0iWp
— Otto English (@Otto_English) June 17, 2024
Reform's manifesto just leaked pic.twitter.com/RhTWOgYw18
— HappyToast★ (@IamHappyToast) June 17, 2024
Others unpicked some policies in the “contract” – and were less than impressed with what they found.
£50 billion of entirely unspecified cuts in the Reform "manifesto" - equivalent to the entire defence budget.
— Sam Freedman (@Samfr) June 17, 2024
Plus £15 billion of unspecified welfare savings. And a vastly inflated figure on bank interest.
Ludicrous. https://t.co/WWLuk7aoP7
The Reform Party's plans for history teaching. Basically they want to channel the whataboutery you get about British empire on Twitter. Amazing. https://t.co/7LFo6mmtYo
— Sathnam Sanghera (@Sathnam) June 17, 2024
Will the real dim shady please stand up..please stand up https://t.co/LUzRlXzDwV
— Terri Portmann (@Giveitago1) June 17, 2024
With the launch of the Reform manifesto, Farage is back on very familiar territory.
— Edwin Hayward (@edwinhayward) June 17, 2024
It's the same grift he exploited to devastating effect during the 2016 Brexit referendum: promise people the Moon on a stick, safe in the knowledge he'll never have to deliver it.
“We’re broken economically” says Nigel Farage whose Brexit is calculated by Bloomberg to be costing the UK £100bn a year in lost output https://t.co/YjkMEX6x02
— Peter Stefanovic (@PeterStefanovi2) June 17, 2024
This 'contract' is pseudo-business bollocks, isn't it? Full of empty promises the UK can't afford, and that will never be delivered. Voters can't enforce any breach of 'contract' can they? Typical populist nonsense.
— Hywel Jones (@JonesTheWords) June 17, 2024
Farage promised leaving the EU would solve all your problems, reduce immigration & save the NHS. He wasn’t telling the truth then - and guess what- he isn’t now.
— Brendan Cox (@MrBrendanCox) June 17, 2024
The Reform con-trick, from Farage's mouth.
— Alex Andreou (@sturdyAlex) June 17, 2024
Challenged on lack of any plan for delivery of zero migration or zero NHS waiting lists: "It's a promise of what we're going to campaign for. We're not going to be in gov't."
So, promising stuff he knows is nonsense. Just like #Brexit. pic.twitter.com/kjUCx0udai
While some thought the entire presentation was far from a joke..
A voice of the far right.
— Craig (@Craig_Edinb) June 17, 2024
Chilling
Nigel Farage launches his contract for the people, designed to fight the establishment.
— Stormzy Bun???? (@Nurseborisbash) June 17, 2024
He IS the fucking establishment.
He is a private school graduate with an exclusive bank account. Exclusively filled with money he grifts by being a racist friend of Putin.