
Nigel Farage has been accused of “fantasy economics” after Reform UK’s chairman said the party would slash up to £400 billion a year of public spending in its first term in office if it wins the next election.
Zia Yusuf insisted the party could find the huge savings by cutting back on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) schemes, scrapping Net Zero policies and slashing quangos.
Advertisement
Speaking on Sky News on Sunday, he said Farage was “crazy about” the plan.
He said: “When was the last time you had a political leader in this country with a real shot at Downing Street, calling for £300 to £400 billion of cuts in the first term of government?
“I cannot remember it inside my lifetime, he was really crazy about this. Almost all of those cuts would actually improve the lives of British people. That is the state of decay in this country.”
Zia Yusuf(chair Reform) tells #TrevorPhillips, with a straight face, that Reform is \"calling for £300b to £400b of cuts in public spending in there 1st term of government… & those cuts will improve the lives of British people…\" 🤔#bbclaurak pic.twitter.com/4MxJSUEIe8
— Haggis_UK 🇬🇧 🇪🇺 (@Haggis_UK) June 1, 2025
","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Haggis_UK 🇬🇧 🇪🇺","author_url":"https://twitter.com/Haggis_UK","cache_age":86400,"description":"Zia Yusuf(chair Reform) tells #TrevorPhillips, with a straight face, that Reform is \"calling for £300b to £400b of cuts in public spending in there 1st term of government… & those cuts will improve the lives of British people…\" 🤔#bbclaurak pic.twitter.com/4MxJSUEIe8— Haggis_UK 🇬🇧 🇪🇺 (@Haggis_UK) June 1, 2025\n\n\n","options":{"_hide_media":{"label":"Hide photos, videos, and cards","value":false},"_maxwidth":{"label":"Adjust width","placeholder":"220-550, in px","value":""},"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","thumbnail_height":720,"thumbnail_url":"https://pbs.twimg.com/ext_tw_video_thumb/1929124543395676160/pu/img/fgy-Shrel8O0dvtA.jpg:large","thumbnail_width":1152,"title":"Haggis_UK 🇬🇧 🇪🇺 on Twitter / X","type":"rich","url":"https://twitter.com/Haggis_UK/status/1929124594239078448","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"enhancements":{},"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"news","device":"desktop","editionInfo":{"id":"uk","name":"U.K.","link":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk","locale":"en_GB"},"originalEdition":"uk","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isAdsFree":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"683c3164e4b08af1a43cfef3","entryPermalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/reform-uk-chairman-accused-of-fantasy-economics-over-plan-to-cut-public-spending-by-ps400-billion_uk_683c3164e4b08af1a43cfef3","entryTagsList":"nigel-farage,reform-uk,zia-yusuf,@ai_seo_headline","sectionSlug":"politics","deptSlug":null,"sectionRedirectUrl":null,"subcategories":"","isWide":false,"isShopping":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"uk.politics","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc140cf94592c45d7390c","disabledWithMapiEntries":false,"overrides":{"all":"60b8e525cdd90620331baaf4"},"whitelisted":["56c5f12ee4b03a39c93c9439","56c6056ee4b01f2b7e1b5f35","59bfee7f9e451049f87f550b","5acccbaac269d609ef44c529","570278d2e4b070ff77b98217","57027b4be4b070ff77b98d5c","56fe95c4e4b0041c4242016b","570279cfe4b06d08e3629954","5ba9e8821c2e65639162ccf1","5bcd9904821576674bc55ced","5d076ca127f25f504327c72e","5b35266b158f855373e28256","5ebac2e8abddfb04f877dff2","60b8e525cdd90620331baaf4","60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","60d0d8e09340d7032ad0fb1a","60d0d90f9340d7032ad0fbeb","60d0d9949340d7032ad0fed3","60d0d9f99340d7032ad10113","60d0daa69340d7032ad104cf","60d0de02b627221e9d819408"],"playlists":{"default":"57bc306888d2ff1a7f6b5579","news":"56c6dbcee4b04edee8beb49c","politics":"56c6dbcee4b04edee8beb49c","entertainment":"56c6e7f2e4b0983aa64c60fc","tech":"56c6f70ae4b043c5bdcaebf9","parents":"56cc65c2e4b0239099455b42","lifestyle":"56cc66a9e4b01f81ef94e98c"},"playerUpdates":{"56c6056ee4b01f2b7e1b5f35":"60b8e525cdd90620331baaf4","56c5f12ee4b03a39c93c9439":"60d0d8e09340d7032ad0fb1a","59bfee7f9e451049f87f550b":"60d0d90f9340d7032ad0fbeb","5acccbaac269d609ef44c529":"60d0d9949340d7032ad0fed3","5bcd9904821576674bc55ced":"60d0d9f99340d7032ad10113","5d076ca127f25f504327c72e":"60d0daa69340d7032ad104cf","5ebac2e8abddfb04f877dff2":"60d0de02b627221e9d819408"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"16b0ecc6-802c-4120-845f-e90629812c4d","clickToPlayPlayer":"823ac03a-0f7e-4bcb-8521-a5b091ae948d","videoPagePlayer":"05041ada-93f7-4e86-9208-e03a5b19311b","defaultPlaylist":"2e062669-71b4-41df-b17a-df6b1616bc8f"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mNkYAAAAAYAAjCB0C8AAAAASUVORK5CYII=","customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":3},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":0},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"683c3164e4b08af1a43cfef3","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"desktop","page_edition":"en-uk"},"tags":[{"name":"nigel farage","slug":"nigel-farage","links":{"relativeLink":"news/nigel-farage","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/nigel-farage","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/nigel-farage"},"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/nigel-farage/"},{"name":"reform uk","slug":"reform-uk","links":{"relativeLink":"news/reform-uk","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/reform-uk","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/reform-uk"},"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/reform-uk/"},{"name":"zia yusuf","slug":"zia-yusuf","links":{"relativeLink":"news/zia-yusuf","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/zia-yusuf","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/zia-yusuf"},"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/zia-yusuf/"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["
\r\n\r\n HPGam.cmd.push(function(){\r\n\t\treturn HPGam.render(\"inline-1\", \"entry_paragraph_1\", false, false);\r\n });\r\n\r\n","
\r\n\r\n HPGam.cmd.push(function(){\r\n\t\treturn HPGam.render(\"inline\", \"entry_paragraph_2\", false, false);\r\n });\r\n\r\n","
\r\n\r\n HPGam.cmd.push(function(){\r\n\t\treturn HPGam.render(\"inline-2\", \"entry_paragraph_3\", false, false);\r\n });\r\n\r\n","
\r\n\r\n HPGam.cmd.push(function(){\r\n\t\treturn HPGam.render(\"inline-infinite\", \"repeating_dynamic_display\", false, false);\r\n });\r\n\r\n"],"adCount":0},"isCollectionEmbed":false}”>
Zia Yusuf(chair Reform) tells #TrevorPhillips, with a straight face, that Reform is “calling for £300b to £400b of cuts in public spending in there 1st term of government… & those cuts will improve the lives of British people…” 🤔#bbclaurak pic.twitter.com/4MxJSUEIe8
— Haggis_UK 🇬🇧 🇪🇺 (@Haggis_UK) June 1, 2025




















