UK PM Starmer warns Farage's 'fantasy' fiscal plans
Published: 04:05 PM,May 29,2025 | EDITED : 08:05 PM,May 29,2025
Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks during a press conference, in London. — Reuters
LONDON: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned on Thursday that Nigel Farage would crash the economy if his Reform UK party ever won power, describing the tax and spending plans of his closest political rival as a 'fantasy'. Farage, who has haunted successive British governments by campaigning against European Union membership and on social issues, has combined a right-wing agenda of slashing immigration and taxes along with a more left-wing focus on greater state support for families and workers.
But Starmer said Farage's economic plan was similar to that of former Conservative Prime Minister Liz Truss, who resigned in October 2022 after less than two months in power when her 'mini budget' of unfunded tax cuts sent markets into a tailspin. 'We were elected to fix that mess (caused by Truss). Now in government, we are once again fighting the same fantasy - this time from Farage,' Starmer said during a visit to a business. 'The same bet in the same casino: that you can spend tens of billions of pounds on tax cuts, without a proper way of paying for it.' — Reuters
But Starmer said Farage's economic plan was similar to that of former Conservative Prime Minister Liz Truss, who resigned in October 2022 after less than two months in power when her 'mini budget' of unfunded tax cuts sent markets into a tailspin. 'We were elected to fix that mess (caused by Truss). Now in government, we are once again fighting the same fantasy - this time from Farage,' Starmer said during a visit to a business. 'The same bet in the same casino: that you can spend tens of billions of pounds on tax cuts, without a proper way of paying for it.' — Reuters