In the last 100 years, the UK has had approximately 47 years of Conservative Party rule, 28 years of Labour Party rule, 15 years of National Governments, 5 years of Con-Lib coalition, and 4 years of Lib-Lab pacts. If the opinion polls and bookmakers are correct, we may get a new form of government at the next election. This could be one in which Reform UK either govern in their own right or as part of a coalition. So, it’s worth considering the question, What would a Reform UK government be like?
2024 General Election Manifesto
The first thing we can clear up straight away is that it will not be like their 2024 General Election manifesto. Just two months after the 2024 election, then party chairman and current policy chief, Zia Yusuf, announced a change in direction, saying that the contract with the people should now be considered “more as the philosophy of what the party wants to achieve rather than policy details.” Further evidence of this break from previous policies came when, in October 2025, the party announced it was ditching its £90bn tax cuts package in favour of a focus on public spending cuts.
The “Economic Vision” speech
On 3rd November 2025, Nigel Farage presented his “Economic Vision” speech to the City of London . From the transcript, we can extract the following concrete policy statements.
Economic & Fiscal Policy
- Cut public spending across government departments.
- Restore public finances and revive confidence in the UK economy.
- Substantially reduce the benefits bill.
- Reduce the size of the public sector and reform pension liabilities.
- Avoid large tax cuts until public finances improve.
- Commit to responsible tax cuts when feasible, including removing inheritance tax from family farms and raising income tax thresholds.
- Pursue a smaller state model of governance.
- Support short-term nationalisation of failing strategic industries.
- Re-industrialise Britain by reviving key heavy industries.
Immigration & Population Policy
- Move toward net-zero migration to ease pressure on housing and public services.
- Oppose mass migration due to its perceived impact on GDP per capita and productivity.
- Introduce a “Britannia Card” for returning non-doms to encourage them to invest and pay tax in the UK.
- Reassess benefits eligibility for indefinite leave to remain holders to control lifetime welfare costs.
Welfare Reform & Social Policy
- Implement reforms to Personal Independence Payments (PIP), excluding non-major anxiety cases.
- Mandate in-person, independent reassessments for disability claims.
- Support modifying the two-child benefit cap for low-paid, working British couples.
- Combat over-diagnosis of disability among young people to improve workforce participation.
Energy & Climate Policy
- Scrap net-zero subsidies to reduce energy prices.
- Remove punitive North Sea oil and gas taxes to boost domestic production.
- Scrap AR7 wind contracts that lock in high energy prices.
- Support nuclear energy if delivered efficiently, based on global best practices.
- Stop payments to wind turbines for shutting down during high wind periods.
Finance & Regulation
- Reform the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to focus on efficiency and competitiveness.
- Abolish stamp duty on share transactions to improve market competitiveness.
- Reverse bank de-banking trends caused by EU money-laundering directives.
- Position the UK as a leader in digital assets, stablecoins, and crypto innovation.
- Challenge Bank of England’s monetary policy and its fiscal impact through open debate.
- Refocus financial regulation on merit rather than diversity mandates.
Small Business & Entrepreneurship
- Become the political party for small businesses and entrepreneurs.
- Roll back burdensome rules like IR35 and quarterly tax reporting for small firms.
- Promote entrepreneurial values in schools and society, celebrating hard work and success.
Housing
- Launch the largest affordable housing programme in decades to address rent and ownership challenges.
Education & Workforce
- Overhaul public-sector work culture by ending the belief that remote work boosts productivity.
- Shift education to promote ambition, entrepreneurship, and pride in success.
Law, Governance & Politics
- Appoint ministers and advisers with real-world expertise from business and key industries.
- Sweep away outdated political conventions in favour of practical reform.
- Leave electoral reform (PR) open to discussion.
- Remove disproportionate employment law burdens on small businesses.
- Reform law and order in London to restore public trust.
Labour Market
- Review the minimum wage for young workers, possibly lowering it or adjusting NIC thresholds.
Illegal immigration – the Operation Restoring Justice speech
The second most significant set of policy announcements was contained within the Operation Restoring Justice speech delivered by Nigel Farage in Oxford on 26th August 2025. Dealing with illegal immigration is high on the list of potential Reform voters’ priorities. You can read the full speech here. A summary of the policy announcements contained within it is below.
- Leave the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
- Repeal the Human Rights Act of 1998.
- Disapply the 1951 Refugee Convention and other international legal barriers for 5 years.
- Create a legal duty for the Home Secretary to remove illegal entrants.
- Detain all illegal migrants upon arrival.
- Deport all illegal entrants with no right to remain.
- Lifetime ban for illegal entrants from ever re-entering the UK.
- Make re-entry after deportation a criminal offence punishable by up to 5 years in prison.
- Make destruction of ID documents a criminal offence punishable by up to 5 years.
- Create a UK Deportation Command to oversee enforcement.
- Establish a data fusion centre to track illegal entrants using data from NHS, HMRC, DVLA, banks, etc.
- Build detention capacity for 24,000 individuals at any time.
- Expand deportation flights to 5 chartered flights per day.
- Use RAF Voyager aircraft as emergency deportation support.
- Apply diplomatic pressure or sanctions on countries refusing to accept deportees.
- Implement a 6-month voluntary return scheme with financial incentives.
- Enforce border raids and arrests for those who do not take voluntary departure.
- Remove judicial oversight (Hardial Singh principle) to prevent bail or release.
- Reject all asylum claims made by people entering the UK illegally.
- Strip tribunals and courts of jurisdiction over inadmissible asylum claims.
- Reject UN conventions (Torture, Anti-Trafficking) during emergency powers.
- Ensure no judge can legally prevent deportation flights under Reform legislation.
- Prevent access to social housing for illegal entrants.
- Prioritise British-born citizens in housing allocation policies.
- Ban undocumented migrants from accessing public healthcare (based on Australian model).
- Welcome legitimate refugees only via secure and legal channels.
- Continue resettlement for Afghan interpreters and allies who helped UK forces.
- Restrict visas for nationals of countries that refuse to accept deportees.
- Permanently detain arrivals in secure facilities (not hotels or open housing).
- Use disused RAF bases for detaining illegal migrants in secure, closed conditions.
- Deploy modular detention buildings if needed (referencing US/Trump approach).
- Block foreign aid or impose sanctions on uncooperative countries.
- Enforce mass deportation of overstayers and fraudulent asylum seekers.
- Ban university students or tourists who overstay visas from reapplying.
- Reject claims from migrants who arrive by boat as not legitimate refugees.
- Oppose two-tier housing, welfare, and policing systems.
- Introduce a ‘British-first’ approach to public services access.
- Restore full national border sovereignty post-Brexit.
Summary
The two main set-piece policy presentations have covered economic policy and illegal migration. Additional policy presentations can be expected and will be added to this page as we move towards the May 2026 Local Elections and on to the next General Election. So be sure to bookmark this page!
Update: November 2025 – Reform UK’s Alternative Budget
In the week before Rachel Reeves presents her second budget, Nigel Farage and Zia Yusuf presented how they would raise £25 billion to avoid the need for tax rises. The main points were:
- Ending foreign-born citizens’ rights to welfare payments, including Universal Credit
- Slashing the foreign aid budget by 90%, capping it at £1 billion a year
- Increasing the Immigration Health Surcharge to reflect actual costs
- Returning foreign prisoners through deportation
- Cutting Personal Independence Payments to save £9 billion.
A full transcript of the alternative budget presentation can be found here.
