Young people have had their minds ‘poisoned’ with negative views about Britain, says Nigel Farage

The leader of Reform UK says he feels Britain is broken and most crime now goes unreported.

In launching Reform’s contract in Wales today, he told an audience the UK is in “decline culturally”.

“We’ve begun to forget who we are, what our history is, what we stand for,” he said. “We’ve put up with the minds of our children, from a young age right through university, frankly being poisoned about what this country is and what it represents.”

‘Accept a job within four months – or lose all benefits’ – how Farage and Tice plan to change UK

Here is a list of the key takeaways from today’s Reform UK “contract” launch in Wales.

• Freeze non-essential immigration
• A new tax on employers who hire foreign workers
• Stop the boats by taking back illegal migrants to France
• All job seekers to accept a job within four months, or after two job offers, or lose all of their benefits
• Patriotic curriculum in primary and secondary schools including teaching European imperialism
• Cut funding to universities that undermine free speech
• Option of two year degrees to cut students’ debt
• 30,000 more full time members of the Armed Forces
• Defence spending to increase to 3 per cent within six years
• Front load benefits to let parents stay at home in early years
• Introduce a 25 per cent transferable tax allowance for married couples
• Increasing the tax free income tax allowance to £20,000
• All public sector bodies to buy 75pc of their food from UK suppliers
• Leave the ECHR, PR in the House of Commons, a new Bill of Rights
• All paid for by £150billion worth of savings including the immigration tax (£4bn), benefits crack down (£15bn), cut in foreign aid (£6bn), scrapping net zero targets (£30bn) etc

‘We’re not going to form the next government – but it’s the first step to power’

Nigel Farage has acknowledged that Reform UK would not form the government after the July 4 General Election – but he said it was the first step on the road to the next contest which could be in 2029.

Speaking in Merthyr Tydfil at the launch of the party’s “contract with the people”, he said: “We are not pretending that we are going to win this General Election, we are a very, very new political party.”

He added: “This is not something with which we’re going to govern the country. That’s not possible in this election.

“Although this election is for our party, and for me, the first important step on the road to 2029.

“Our ambition is to establish a bridgehead in Parliament, and to become a real opposition to a Labour government.”

He said the Tories would not be able to provide opposition because “they spend most of their days arguing among themselves, and they’re split down the middle when it comes to policy”.

Conservatives ‘lobbying support to replace Sunak’ ahead of potential election defeat

Conservative MPs are already lobbying support to replace Rishi Sunak should the Tories lose the upcoming General Election, a report has claimed.

One Tory adviser told the Guardian: “There is quite a bit of manoeuvring going on already. Members of the cabinet are texting candidates regularly just to ‘check in’, while others are already lining up their leadership teams.”

They added: “It can be quite annoying – sometimes you wish they would focus more on the general election campaign.”