Starmer: Farage’s ‘fantasy’ economics will lead to Liz Truss-style meltdown

The Prime Minister urged the public to reject Reform UK’s calls to use “family finances” as a gambling chip on "billons and billions of unfunded spending", as ITV News Political Correspondent Shehab Khan reports.

Nigel Farage’s “fantasy” economics will lead to a Liz Truss-style economic meltdown, Sir Keir Starmer has warned, after the Reform UK leader set out his party’s proposed policies.

The prime minister urged the public to reject Reform UK’s calls to use “family finances” as a gambling chip on "billons and billions of unfunded spending".

"It's Liz Truss all over again", Starmer told workers at a glass manufacturer in Warrington.

"I feel very strongly, it's my responsibility to protect working people from going through that ever again," he said.

The speech came after the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said Reform's pledge to increase the income tax personal allowance to £20,000 a year could cost between £50 to £80 billion a year.

Speaking at a press conference in central London on Tuesday, Farage said his measures were “aimed at British families” as he announced plans to scrap the two-child benefit cap and fully reverse the winter fuel payment cuts.

Responding to Farage’s speech, IFS deputy director Helen Miller said the announcements on winter fuel payments and the two-child benefit cap were “dwarfed” by the change to income tax personal allowance.

Short-lived Conservative prime minister Truss’ mini-budget spooked the financial markets in 2022 and led to a spike in mortgage rates.

Starmer told workers: “In opposition we said Liz Truss would crash the economy and leave you to pick the bill. We were right... Now in government, we are once again fighting the same fantasy – this time from Nigel Farage.

“Farage is making the exact same bet Liz Truss did - that you can spend tens of billions on tax cuts without a proper way of paying for it.

“And just like Truss, he is using your family finances, your mortgage, your bills as a gambling chip on his mad experiment."

He added: “Unlike Nigel Farage, I know what it’s like growing up in a cost-of-living crisis. I know what it’s like when your family can’t pay the bills, when you fear the postman, the bills that may be brought, and I know how much work we have to do.

“But there is not and never will be a magic wand that can wave away the need to manage the public finances properly. That is the foundation upon which everything rests, always.

Asked by ITV News Political Correspondent Shehab Khan whether he viewed Farage as his main opposition now, Starmer said the Conservatives have "run out of road", and the "choice at the moment" is between Labour and Reform.

Responding to Starmer's speech, Reform UK Chairman Zia Yusuf accused Starmer of "panicking", accusing the PM of "splurging money like a drunken sailor on things that add no value to British people's lives".

When pressed about whether he will scrap the two-child benefit caps as reports have suggested, Starmer said he is looking at “all options” to tackle child poverty.

“I’m determined we’re going to drive down child poverty,” he said.

“One of the proudest things that the last Labour government did was to drive down child poverty, and that’s why we’ve got a taskforce working on this.

“I think there are a number of components. There isn’t a single bullet, but I’m absolutely determined that we will drive this down, and that’s why we’ll look at all options, always, of driving down child poverty.”

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