Farage distances himself from by-election candidate after calling for tax on childless couples
Nigel Farage has distanced himself from comments made by the Reform UK's Gorton and Denton candidate after he suggested those without children should be taxed in a bid to tackle falling birth rates.
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The Reform UK leader said those who have “quite a few children” could be given tax breaks to help with the cost-of-living, if his party came to power.
It comes after Mr Farage unveiled his first frontbench appointments at a press conference in Westminster, Mr Farage also made clear Tommy Robinson is “nothing to do with us”.
Tuesday's unveiling saw Richard Tice announced as deputy leader should the party come to power at the next general election, with Tory defector Robert Jenrick Shadow Chancellor, with Suella Braverman appointed shadow education, skills and equalities spokeswoman.
The right-wing activist, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, has endorsed Reform’s candidate Matthew Goodwin, telling his X followers to “Vote for Matt” at the by-election on February 26.
A spokesperson for Reform UK said Mr Robinson “isn’t welcome in the party” following the endorsement.
Speaking on Tuesday, Mr Farage said: “Tommy Robinson can do what he wants to do, away from us, as long as he stays within the law … which he doesn’t always do."
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“And it’s just none of our business, nothing to do with us, nothing to do with the campaign in Denton and Gorton.”
Mr Goodwin, a former GB News presenter, has been accused of engaging in “toxic” politics by the Labour Party and the Green Party.
He has called for women and young girls to be given a “biological reality” check and for the introduction of a “negative child benefit tax for those who don’t have offspring”.
These comments were made in a video posted to his personal YouTube channel in 2024, and on his Substack blog in 2023.
Asked if he would consider the additional tax on those without children, Mr Farage told reporters: “I wouldn’t want to tax anybody more, but you might give people tax breaks for having quite a few children, given that the cost of living is as appallingly high as it is.”
He added: “There is this incredible gap now, and actually millions of people working who might be better off claiming a whole range of benefits.
“So, if part of our strategy going forwards – if part of it, it will be up to him (Robert Jenrick), not me – if part of our strategy going forwards is to find some way that we can help young working people have kids in a normal manner that, to me, would be a very decent and very good thing to do.”
It came as Reform’s new education and equalities spokeswoman Suella Braverman pledged to scrap the Equality Act.
She told the press conference: “We will repeal the Equality Act, because we are going to work to build a country defined by meritocracy not tokenism, personal responsibility not victimhood, excellence not mediocrity, and unity not division.”
Mrs Braverman was pressed on whether the policy to get rid of the Act could impact birth rates, given its role in protecting maternity leave.
The MP for Fareham and Waterlooville replied: “Scrapping the Equality Act means getting rid of the pernicious, divisive notion of protected characteristics.
“But of course, in the workplace, people do require some protection, so of course, it’s all about making sure we strike a balanced approach, protecting those people in the workplace who have legitimate needs, but also getting rid of this whole industry that has grown up over the years, which is dividing people, dividing our country and doing so much harm.”
At next week’s by-election, Mr Goodwin is up against Manchester city councillor Angeliki Stogia for Labour and councillor and plumber Hannah Spencer for the Green Party.
Retired police detective Charlotte Cadden is running for the Tories and local campaigner Jackie Pearcey for the Liberal Democrats.