Only Reform can save Britain, and we have the plan to do it.
Andy Burnham has changed nothing for the better. We need something more radical to give the country a chance
Nigel FarageShow biography
Published 06 September 2026 7:00am BST
Reform UK is the only party that is capable of defeating the Left at the next election Credit: Temilade Adelaja/Reuters
It is almost 50 days since Andy Burnham fulfilled his long-held dream of becoming the leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister.
Let’s put to one side the fact that, after years of trying, he only managed to make it to Downing Street via what was in effect a Labour Party coup; that the Labour MP who stood aside for him was apparently promised a highly paid job in No 10; and that Burnham has no legitimate mandate from the people.
Let us instead consider what Burnham has achieved since taking the highest office in the land.
In the past seven weeks, he’s embarked on a “listening tour” of the nation; he’s produced a series of cringe-worthy social media videos; and he’s made a plethora of policy pledges, many of which are in fact mere aspirations.
The question becomes: what, in Burnham’s Britain, has changed for the better since he resigned as the mayor of Greater Manchester to return to national politics this summer?
The answer is: virtually nothing.
I’m willing to bet that most voters would be hard-pressed to remember even a few of the promises he’s made since July 20.
Let me remind you of his principal aims. He has vowed to introduce a temporary VAT cut on household electricity bills; he’s introduced a temporary £2 cap on bus fares outside of London; he hopes to end rough sleeping; and the West Midlands bus network has been put under public control.
He’s also set up the so-called “Number 10 North” office in Manchester. Burnham believes that by moving civil servants 200 miles from London he can “rewire the state” and boost growth. The reality of this entirely performative decision is that it is more likely to confuse and weaken the business of running the country while saddling taxpayers with a bill that’s been estimated at £175m. It is an expensive gimmick, an act of self-indulgence that Britain can ill afford.
Tinkering around the edges of problems in a country that is as broken as ours is not just pathetic, it’s also pointless.
The PM believes that by moving civil servants 200 miles from London he can ‘rewire the state’ Credit: Jeff Overs/BBC
Burnham hasn’t said a meaningful word so far about the immigration crisis or the tax burden, for example. Just like his predecessor, Keir Starmer, he has his fingers in his ears. He is completely out of touch with the needs and wants of anybody who aspires to a life in which they can work hard and build a better future for themselves and their family.
Judging by the paucity of his record so far, it is as though he left his former job as mayor of Greater Manchester to become the mayor of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
In the words of his Chancellor, John Healey, Burnham is running a “continuity” Labour government “with a change of leader”. I find this lack of enterprise and spirit deeply alarming.
The new Prime Minister has asked voters to give him 10 years to carry out the repair work to the fabric of our nation that he believes is necessary to fix our problems – without having the courage to set out what exactly he thinks it will entail.
Even if he had the right ideas on the biggest issues that we face, this is not good enough. Time is a luxury that has been squandered by successive Conservative and Labour governments of the last 15 years. Time is short.
Something far more radical is required to get Britain working again.
My plan is that, under a Reform UK government, ministers will be given 100 days from the point of election to prove themselves. Each of them will make a specific pledge. If they fail to implement the change they have promised, they will resign. If they refuse to resign, they will be sacked. No ifs, no buts.
No other political party in British political history has ever dared to open itself to such accountability. Reform UK is different. As well as setting out our programme for government, these “jeopardy pledges”, as I think of them, provide the sort of clarity that the electorate needs if it is to have some faith in politics and politicians again.
Until now, citizens have had to carry all the risk by voting for representatives who are almost always allowed to keep their job, regardless of their performance. Under a Reform UK government, the tables will be turned. Every senior minister’s 100-day pledge will be written down and signed. Nobody will be able to join the Reform UK frontbench without having made a pledge. This means that only the most dedicated individuals will be able to serve. In doing so, they will lay their career on the line.
I am entirely realistic about this. I am prepared to acknowledge that 100 days is not long enough to fix our broken country. But it is enough time to demonstrate the direction in which we must head if we are to have a chance of restoring greatness to our nation.
We have already begun this process by setting out a series of fully costed undertakings at our party conference in Birmingham over the past few days. These show the scale of our ambitions.
I was delighted to sign a pact with Jordan Bardella, who is in pole position to be the next prime minister of France, to stop the boats forever. For the first time, Britain can be assured that a senior French politician genuinely wants to work in our interests when it comes to the vexing matter of illegal immigration – not least because stopping it altogether is in France’s interests, too. My pledge in Birmingham was to guarantee that the boats will stop coming within 100 days of us forming a government.
Jordan Bardella and Nigel Farage hold their ‘memorandum of understanding’ on stage in Birmingham Credit: Paul Grover
Robert Jenrick, our shadow chancellor, pledged to raise the personal tax allowance from £12,570, where it has been frozen since 2021, to £15,000. This measure will save workers £486 each annually – almost £1,000 per couple. It will benefit 40 million taxpayers and take 2.9 million earners out of income tax altogether. It will also ensure that the state pension remains untaxed, keeping more money in the pockets of Britain’s 13 million pensioners.
Suella Braverman, Reform’s shadow education secretary, pledged to cut student loan issuance by 20 per cent, to lift the cap on medical school places – thereby enabling hundreds of British applicants with top grades to obtain places – and to introduce 0 per cent interest loans for nursing students.
In the same vein, Richard Tice, our energy spokesman, explained how he would cut household energy bills by £250 per year. This would be done by slashing the carbon costs on energy bills, by removing policy costs and by permanently scrapping VAT on household energy bills.
We estimate that implementing these commitments would cost in the region of £28bn by the fifth year of a Reform UK government. Other previously announced policies would cost a further £30bn, creating a total cost of £58bn.
But against this, we have identified £91bn in itemised savings and new revenue sources. It is hard to see who in their right mind could argue with a strategy that promotes the interest of law-abiding Britons, saves public money and can be seen as an investment in our collective future.
Some readers will be sceptical that all of this can be achieved. It can be and it will be. Let me explain how.
On the first day of a Reform government being returned, I would declare a state of emergency. MPs would be recalled to Parliament immediately to enact the laws that would make our 100-day plan possible.
Even if Parliament has to sit for six days a week, it will happen.
Even if the House of Lords must be packed full of new peers who will ensure that the relevant legislation passes, voters have my word: a Reform UK government will meet each of these commitments. If necessary, I would even be prepared to call a referendum on the future of the upper chamber.
Similarly, if the judiciary attempted to block our plans and, by extension, the will of the people, Parliament would pass new laws to force them through.
And any civil servant who tried to obstruct our programme would lose their job, come what may. Professionals from outside would be brought in to get the job done if it became necessary.
Any civil servant who tried to obstruct our programme would lose their job, come what may Credit: Nigel Harris
Many people tell me that driving socialism out of power is the only way we can get the country back. I agree. And to that point I would add that Reform UK is the only party that is capable of defeating the Left at the next election. With its appalling track record of mass immigration, tax rises and mismanagement, the Conservative Party would never be believed if its leader even suggested anything close to the “jeopardy pledge”. As I have said repeatedly, the Tories sabotaged their own brand. They cannot be trusted.
It is a sad but undeniable fact that Britain is in a parlous state. To repair the decades of damage that we have all suffered, voting for Reform UK is the only way to secure the change we all need. To save Britain, vote Reform and help me help you get our country back. It may be our last chance.
The Tories had 14 years to tackle these problems. They failed. Labour, under Andy Burnham, wants voters to give him a decade to restore the fortunes of the country. This is not feasible on any level. By contrast I am asking for 100 days to start the serious job of fixing our country. Britain is broken. Britain needs Reform.
Nigel Farage is the leader of Reform UK
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