Monday, November 3, 2025

The leader of Reform tried to present his party as a responsible government in waiting in a speech this morning. It did not go well.   

The main announcement was that the "Liz Truss Plus" programme of tax cuts and new spending that Nigel Farage promised at the last election had been ditched. 

But Farage said that in the Caerphilly by-election campaign (which Reform failed to win) two weeks ago, and he did not have a detailed plan with which to replace it. He was reduced to waffling about how the Labour government will fall in an economic crisis in 2027, but the unknown nature of the crisis meant Reform couldn't set out its policies now. 

One news line from his comments to journalists after the speech was that he thought the minimum wage for young people was "too high". Which seemed slightly at odds with his claim in the speech that low-paid workers are "better off" if they claim benefits for "mild anxiety".  

And the attempt to present Reform's five MPs as a team was undermined by the absence of Sarah Pochin, who seems to be undergoing the Trotsky airbrush treatment. 

Which country borders both Montenegro and Slovenia?

Answer at the bottom of today's email 

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Nigel Farage, when asked who would be chancellor of the Exchequer in a Reform government

Quiz answer: Croatia

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