Nigel Farage Left Squirming After Reform-Run Councils Break Pledge To 'Cut Taxes'

Nigel Farage was left squirming as he was grilled on Reform-run councils breaking their pledge to cut taxes.

The party leader bizarrely tried to claim that some were still sticking to their pledge despite putting council tax up.

Reform election leaflets at last year’s local elections, some of which carried Farage’s picture, promised to “reduce waste and cut your taxes”.

However, some of the local authorities which the party now controls are putting up council tax from next month.

In an interview with ITV News, Farage was told: “Your leaflets at last year’s local elections promised to ‘reduce waste and cut your taxes’.

“Most of the councils that you took control of are putting tax up, including Kent – 3.99%.”

Farage said: “I never said we’d cut. I never said we’d cut.”

But the journalist told him: “Your leaflet said ‘cut your taxes’.”

Farage said that “means don’t charge the maximum of 4.99%”.

The reporter hit back: “Most people would think that would be cutting your taxes.”

Attempting a different approach, Farage then said: “I never once, in the country, ever once did I say we would cut council tax.”

Asked if it was “a mistake to put it on your leaflet”, he replied: “I never put it on my leaflets.”

The journalist said: “You did. It said ‘reduce waste and cut your taxes’. Those were the words.”

Farage replied: “Nothing with my name ever went on that.”

Asked if “no such claims will appear” on Reform leaflets ahead of the next set of English council elections on May 7, Farage said: “We did not say we would cut tax.”

Reminded again that last year’s leaflets promised to “reduce waste and cut your taxes”, Farage said: “Cutting taxes could mean not putting them up as much I suppose, but I never promised cuts in council tax.”

Labour put a clip of the excruciating exchange on X with the message: “He must think you were born yesterday.”