Farage vows seven-day Parliament to ‘fix’ Britain if Reform wins
Nigel Farage will vow to make Parliament sit seven days a week to “fix” Britain if Reform UK wins the next election,
Nigel Farage will vow to make Parliament sit seven days a week to “fix” Britain if Reform UK wins the next election, as he addresses his party conference on Friday.
Listen to this article
The annual gathering at Birmingham’s NEC has been billed as setting out the party’s plans for the first 100 days of a possible Reform government.
Mr Farage is expected to say he would declare a “national emergency” on the first day of government, introducing a flood of legislation and doing “anything and everything” to deliver the party’s policies.
In the first of his two speeches at the conference, he will say: “Within days of winning the general election, we will introduce dozens of Bills and force Parliament to sit all through summer for seven days a week to pass them.
“Britain is in serious trouble. We don’t have time to wait around to fix it.”
The two-day conference in Birmingham is expected to hear from other senior Reform figures setting out their own pledges for their first 100 days in office, as well as an address from Jordan Bardella, leader of the French National Rally.
Mr Farage is expected to announce that any frontbenchers who fail to achieve those targets “will be sacked”.
He is also due to make his own promise to focus on reducing the cost of living and lead on efforts to end small boat crossings in the Channel.
This summer saw the lowest number of crossings in six years, while the overall number for the year is at its lowest since 2021, but the subject remains a key issue with 16,513 people making the journey so far this year.
Meanwhile, party deputy leader Richard Tice is expected to promise to cut environmental levies from energy bills when he makes his own address to the conference on Friday.
By cutting taxes on gas generators, permanently removing VAT from energy bills and scrapping policies including the renewables obligation, feed-in tariffs and the warm homes discount, he will promise to reduce household energy bills by £250.
While last year’s Reform conference saw the party enjoying a commanding lead in the polls, its position has slipped in recent months amid questions about its finances and a Clacton by-election boycotted by other parties.
Since Andy Burnham came to power in July, several polls have seen Labour regain a narrow lead over Reform, while a YouGov survey earlier this week found six in 10 Britons feel Reform is untrustworthy.
Labour Party chairwoman Bridget Phillipson said: “Reform UK is bursting at the seams with sleaze and scandal. Nigel Farage is desperately trying to distract from his secret £5 million ‘gift’ and the police investigation into Reform’s finances.
“If Farage can’t get his own house in order, he simply can’t be trusted to address the issues the country faces.”