Nigel Farage has been accused of ‘sticking two fingers up to hardworking British families’ by calling for the two-child benefit cap to be scrapped.
The Reform UK leader used a speech on Tuesday to commit his party to axing the welfare restriction, claiming it was ‘the right thing to do’.
Mr Farage also vowed to fully reverse the winter fuel payment cuts made by Labour, repeated Reform’s pledge to raise the tax-free income allowance to £20,000, and outlined plans for a transferable marriage tax allowance.
But he is being criticised for ‘fantasy economics’ after he stuggled to defend his plans for a spending splurge of up to £85billion.
In an article for MailOnline, which can be read below, senior Tory MP Helen Whately claimed Mr Farage’s agenda ‘sounded like it was handwritten by Jeremy Corbyn‘.
‘He exposed himself as a populist, to the Left of Labour, cosy with the unions and economically illiterate,’ the shadow work and pensions secretary writes.
‘It’s not just on the numbers, which by his own admission even he doesn’t think add up, but on his values too.
‘He thinks taxpayers should pick up the bill for people on benefits to have an unlimited number of children. That simply isn’t fair or economically credible.’
Nigel Farage has been accused of ‘sticking two fingers up to hardworking British families’ by calling for the two-child benefit cap to be scrapped
In an article for MailOnline, senior Tory MP Helen Whately claimed Mr Farage’s agenda ‘sounded like it was handwritten by Jeremy Corbyn’
Ms Whately is the shadow work and pensions secretary
The two-child benefit cap was first announced in 2015 by the Conservatives and came into effect in 2017.
It restricts child tax credit and universal credit to the first two children in most households.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has not ruled out lifting the cap after coming under increasing pressure by Labour MPs to do so.
But Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, speaking at the weekend, said the limit is ‘fair’ and said Britons ‘shouldn’t have to rely on benefits to have your children’.
She added that taxpayers would think ‘if you can’t afford to have lots of children, then you shouldn’t do so’.
Ms Whately claimed, by vowing to scrap the two-child benefit cap, Mr Farage had ‘stuck two fingers up to hardworking British families who live within their means’.
She added: ‘People who work hard, get on with their job and provide for themselves should be supported by effective public services from a smaller state.
‘But not according to Farage, who would ensure more and more of working peoples’ pay packets are taken away from them to pay for those on benefits. That is not right.’
The Tory frontbencher said Mr Farage was ‘telling people what he thinks they want to hear with no regard for reality’ as he attempts to woo Labour voters to win power.
In his speech on Tuesday, Mr Farage said Reform was built around three key principles of ‘family, community and country’.
‘That is why we believe lifting the two-child cap is the right thing to do,’ he said.
‘Not because we support a benefits culture, but because we believe for lower-paid workers this actually makes having children just a little bit easier for them.
‘It’s not a silver bullet, it doesn’t solve all of those problems. But it helps them.’
The spending on welfare would be paid for, Mr Farage claimed, by cutting Net Zero costs.
He said these were worth £45billion every year, while he also targeted £4billion spent every year on asylum accommodation, as well as diversity and equality spending, which he said amounted to £7billion annually.
Mr Farage added that reducing the spending on government bodies, Quangos, by 5 per cent could save £65billion across five years.
He said his ‘optimistic’ plans overall could save £350billion.
Nigel Farage’s mask has slipped: His agenda could have been written by Jeremy Corbyn
By Helen Whately, Tory MP and shadow work and pensions secretary
Nigel Farage’s mask has slipped. He exposed himself as a populist, to the Left of Labour, cosy with the unions and economically illiterate. His agenda sounded like it was handwritten by Jeremy Corbyn.
It’s not just on the numbers, which by his own admission even he doesn’t think add up, but on his values too. He thinks taxpayers should pick up the bill for people on benefits to have an unlimited number of children. That simply isn’t fair or economically credible.
In doing so, he stuck two fingers up to hardworking British families who live within their means. People who work hard, get on with their job and provide for themselves should be supported by effective public services from a smaller state. But not according to Farage, who would ensure more and more of working peoples’ pay packets are taken away from them to pay for those on benefits. That is not right.
It was like Left-wing extremists, many of whom have been banished even from the Labour Party, were using Farage as a sock puppet. It was big government, high tax and high spend with no regard for the consequences. In other words: fantasy economics.
One of the biggest challenges facing our country is the spiralling welfare budget. Labour are waking up to this but don’t have a plan. Reform don’t even get it. Their only suggestion so far is to increase the benefits bill by lifting the two child cap.
What we need is a principled approach properly thought through. More people in work. Fewer people claiming who don’t need to. That requires hard thinking and tough choices and the only party capable and committed to doing that at the moment is the Conservatives.
We need our leaders to tell it how it is, not just tell people what they want to hear so they can get in – Keir Starmer’s already tried that one. Using our values and principles to guide us through the complex challenges facing the country – not the kind of client state populism that has drained the vitality from some European economies.
In Parliament, we have had our shoulders to the wheel, forcing the Prime Minister to see sense. But Farage isn’t interested in that. Last week for example, rather than hold Labour to account during the Brexit surrender summit, the Chagos Islands surrender, the Winter Fuel u-turn, Farage was nowhere to be seen –preferring the sun loungers to the green benches. It says it all.
Conservatives have strong values of sound money and a clear vision of supporting people into work. That is the opposite of what Nigel Farage is promising, who is just telling people what he thinks they want to hear with no regard for reality.
Voters heard the same thing from Labour last year and have been paying for it ever since with higher taxes, higher inflation and reams of red tape choking private enterprise. We will continue to do the hard yards, and expose these mad plans for what they are.
