Nigel Farage has said Reform UK could cut the minimum wage for young people, saying there is “an argument” that it is currently “too high”.
Speaking at a news conference, he also said his manifesto promises at the last general election to bring in sweeping tax cuts were “only ever aspirations”, and “substantial tax cuts” are “not realistic”.
In a broader defence of his insurgent party, Mr Farage insisted Reform UK is “not a one-man band”, and he is building a team with expertise across a wide range of policy areas.
The Reform UK leader made the comments in a speech and news conference with journalists in the City of London in which he pledged the party would be “the most pro-business, the most pro-entrepreneurship government that has been seen in this country in modern times”.
Asked in the news conference afterwards if he believes the minimum wage is too high, Mr Farage replied: “There’s an argument that minimum wage is too high for younger workers, particularly given that we’ve lowered the level at which NIC [employers’ national insurance] is paid to £5,000 a year.”
This is a reference to Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s decision at the last budget to reduce the threshold at which employers start paying national insurance contributions from £9,100 per year in salary to £5,000.
