Contract with the People
Richard Tice unveils Reform UK’s Contract with the People ahead of the general Election which will be called at some point in 2024.
Hello everybody, hello Reformers it’s wonderful to see you here in sunny Doncaster. Yes, the Sun Shines on the righteous and we are the righteous. We the Reformers. Thank you so much to all of you for being here it’s absolutely fantastic it’s our biggest ever conference so far and my God don’t we need it now?
Before I go into this contract and various things that are winding me up and winding you up, just a few thanks because these sorts of events they don’t just happen overnight. It takes a huge amount of organization and so a massive thank you to our chief exec Paul and the whole team at headquarters. They’ve done a brilliant job and of course Simon Marcus and the people involved with piecing together this contract. The stage and everything look absolutely amazing, a huge thanks to Ben Moss and his team for that.
They are not laughing now
Three years ago when we launched Reform UK everyone laughed at me, the Tories they laughed at me, they said Richard what are you doing? You’re one of us. I said no I’m not and then, let me tell you 3 years later, with your help, they’re not laughing now that is for sure!
I’ll tell you why they’re not laughing because they’ve broken Britain and it’s going to be left to us to save Britain. We’re making great strides; we’ve gone from 1% percent in the polls three years ago. YouGov this week 13%. Whilst we’re soaring in the polls Sunak is sinking in the poles. So, I’ve rebranded him, I’ve rebranded him “Sinking Sunak”.
That’s the reality of where we are today. It’s extraordinary and not only are we 13% in the National polls but we’ve now proved it in these recent two by-elections in Kingswood with the amazing Rupert Lowe just over 10% from a standing start a few weeks before. And the brilliant Ben Habib, Brexit Ben in Wellingborough 13% our best two by elections.
Rochdale
It reminds me of the late great Bruce Forsyth when he said “didn’t he do well, didn’t he do well?” They really did fantastically and this ladies and gentleman, this is just the beginning.
You’ve just heard from Simon Danczuk. I was in Rochdale yesterday the recognition of Simon is fantastic. He’s doing a brilliant job. We’re going to be talking later about what’s going on to our democracy Simon touched on it.
I mean this is serious stuff when the second favourite in the by election is not allowed into a general hustings. Just think what that says? I’ll come back to that but Simon is doing a fantastic job.
Now on the 3rd of January we had a press conference in London and I said to everybody I said you cannot grow an economy with the burdens that we currently face; with record high taxes; record high wasteful government spending; the nanny state; regulations from the EU, that drive us all Bonkers; Mass immigration; low-skilled immigration that’s depressing British wages and then of course, our favourite our good old friend Net Zero.
Net Zero
You cannot grow an economy with these burdens and just a mere four weeks later I was proven right as we slipped into recession. The whole economy into recession Sunak just a few days before, sinking man, he said “the plan’s working” to which I say; some plan!
I quite like the old days in the 1980s the 1990s. You’ll remember, we grew at 2 and a half to three and a half percent every single year. We got worried if it was below 2% and if it was below 1% it was a moral recession. Old Sunak and Jeremy Hunt, they’re excited at a quarter of a percent here, half a percent there.
Reform UK Contract with You
For God’s sake it’s pathetic that’s not growing an economy that’s a disaster but don’t worry Starmers coming. I’ll start again, I much prefer the other name this actually. I have to give credit to Paul occasionally this was his idea Starmageddon. Starmageddon. Now it’s true that’s the reality. It’s true the risk of Starmageddon in a constituency near you in 2024 he’s not got a clue how to grow the economy. Not a Scooby-Doo and not only is the economy now in recession but because of mass immigration per head, we’ve been in recession for seven quarters the longest period in on record since the mid 1950s.
That ladies and gentlemen is why everybody is feeling poorer we all sense it and it’s an absolute disgrace.
Brexit
Because of course we came out of the Brexit Party and Brexit is such a great opportunity like anything in life if you do a job For Heaven’s Sake do it properly or don’t bother. That’s the reality and that’s why in this election year this document this contract you see, all the others they use the expression A manifesto.
Well, we’re tired of that. That just stands for broken promises this is a contract. It’s a contract with you and with everybody but very deliberately you see the likes of Ben, Rupert, myself we come from the world of business. We’re of a certain age, we’ve been around the block a few times. All of us know how things work and what you do in business, you come up with a business plan and you then push it around your senior team for comments for ideas, corrections, clarifications and that’s why ladies and gentlemen with this contract with a completely different approach.
A Contract, Not a Manifesto
We’ve issued it today and there’ll be copies for all of you as I finish speaking outside. It’s been issued as a draft very deliberately because I want you to look at it. I want you to read it, study it and many of you have been involved as Simon said in helping piece it together and you’ll say Richard I like this, I like that, but you’ve forgotten that.
And our enemies will say well that’s okay and you’ve got that number wrong, fine I’ll tell you why because I want people to talk about our ideas. I want the ‘latte Labour’ lot, that’s who I call them. They’re not the party of the workers they’re the party of latte and Islington. We’re the Party of the workers. I want them to attack our policies because our policies should be centre stage in the National debate.
Reform UK Contract with the People
We’re the first people out of the blocks with this Contract with the People and it’s so important to be able to talk about some of these things. That’s why we’ve done it as a draft to get people to talk about it to attack it and then yeah sure we might say; yes, you’re right we can have this, we can correct that number. But the principle, the philosophy of the change is essential because the country is absolutely broken. You’re angry, I’m angry, the emails I get from people is incredible people are steaming mad at what’s happened to our Beloved Country.
But I believe we can turn it around and that’s what this Contract with the People does. It is a serious way to reorganize how we run and manage this country of ours.
Some of the numbers are extraordinary. We had to double and treble check them. Since 2019 government spending over and above the rate of inflation, government spending is almost £200 billion higher over and above inflation than in 2019.
Public Sector in Crisis
Public sector workers; an additional 600,000 on the books and yet outcomes what works in the public sector? I mean if we were paying more tax and everything was working like Swiss Clockwork and Swiss trains, you might say it’s worth it.
Nothing’s working, so how can we pay more to more public sector workers and yet the outcomes are worse. Our health outcomes are amongst the worst in the developed world, so we’re paying more for Less.
Don’t anybody tell any of us that there’s no wasteful spending, there’s no mismanagement, there’s no inefficiency in the public sector. There are hundreds of millions of pounds of waste and I’m going to give you, we talk about this in the Contract with the People, but I’ll give you the biggest three.
Bank of England
The first one is truly unbelievable, the governor of the bank of England a gentleman called Mr Andrew Bailey and his senior team. In their Infinite Wisdom they’ve decided to pay interest to the commercial banks in the city on all of the QE money that was printed in the financial crisis and during the covid crisis.
Now, when interest rates were zero it didn’t matter, it was nothing. It’s now £35 billion a year. We can’t imagine what that is. I’ll tell you what that is, that’s £700 per year of your money straight out of your back pocket. Straight into the pockets of the city Banks. £700 quid every single adult in this country.
Government Waste
This is a voluntary decision by people running the city of London to look after their mates. I first raised this in December ’22. No one in the Tory party. no one in the establishment has challenged me on it. Why, because they know I’m right and they’re too embarrassed and they’re too humiliated and if you don’t trust me, trust probably one of our most experienced economists Patrick Minford who used to advise Margaret Thatcher.
Trust two former deputy governors of the Bank of England who agree with me and if you want to trust a left wing think tank be my guest then, the Economics Foundation they also agree with me. So that’s the first thing £35 billion quid.
The second thing our old friend Net Zero. No one’s talked about what’s the cost of Net Zero it’s at least at least £30 billion per annum for the next 25 years. I’m being cautious. I hate to say I’m being conservative because I’m not, but sort of like a contradiction in terms. That’s another £600 quid nicked out of your other back pocket. You better sew them up.
I think every year this is what they’re doing with our money and for what? So those two things alone that’s £65 billion. That’s more than the whole of the Defence budget it’s £1,300 quid of your money every single year.
Save £5 in every £100
And then you’ve probably heard me talk about what I call the £5 in £100 of all our budgets. You at home, we’re managing our budgets carefully, we’re saving a few quid here and a few quid there. Likewise in businesses, you’ve got to save five quid in 100.
I’ve just touched on the waste it’s everywhere. I was on LBC the other day with Nick Ferrari talking about the waste and someone challenged me. We’ll talk about the health service from that interview, two separate doctors from the NHS, they got in touch with me and they said Richard you bang on the money, the waste is everywhere, it’s unbelievable so we know the waste is there.
Then there’s other savings on benefits, on immigration, scrapping the rest of the ridiculous HS2 and so on. All of a sudden this adds up to almost £150 billion a year that is £3,000 a year of your money. Every single adult £3,000 a year is what’s being wasted is our estimate every year. This is serious money.
We Face an Existential Crisis
So what this Contract with the People does it sets out those costs and those savings and then what we should do with it now. Because the situation is so serious, it’s what Ben, Brexit Ben he says it’s an existential threat and it is a crisis. It’s urgent if we keep flatlining or in recession we keep spending hundreds of billions more than we’re earning, what happens eventually you run out of cash, we go bust.
That’s what happens so the situation is urgent. So that’s why in this Contract with the People we’ve set out the first three or four items that we would do the critical items in the first 100 days. No sort of waffly promises from the other parties. This is urgent, this is what you do when you’re trying to turn around a failing business.
The good news is although rather like you know a bad Chief Exec can ruin a good business in two years, a good Chief Exec, good leaders can turn around our country in two to three years.
Lift 7 Million out of Paying Income Tax
But it’s critical, that’s why we set it out as the critical reforms needed in the first 100 days and the first one is the economic ones, the tax cuts, the personal tax cuts, making work pay work is a good thing for all of us. Lifting the tax threshold to £20,000 for everybody, freeing out 7 million people from paying any income tax whatsoever.
Slashing energy levies, reducing fuel Duty, these are absolutely vital things to do. Reducing stamp Duty on homes to create more activity, more economic activity, because when you get more activity, you get what they call the multiplier factor and that creates more growth.
Inheritance Tax
Abolishing the grief tax, inheritance tax it’s double taxation at a time when you’re grieving. It’s a grief tax, all of these things would make a huge difference to individuals and families up and down the country and then also the help for businesses.
Small businesses are the engine the driving force of the UK that’s why it’s unbelievable that the Tories lifted corporation tax, more daft regulations. We got to get rid of them, we should cut corporation tax back to 20% and then by the end of a first term towards 15%. It’s essential that’s how you get investment. Small traders, we’ve got to abolish these mad IR35 regulations that are annoying hundreds of thousands of small businesses. This is absolutely essential it really is.
Daft regulations, why on Earth should we tolerate them? We shouldn’t, we’ve got to get rid of them it’s absolutely essential. Those changes will make a massive difference to growth.
What about proportional representation? Excellent question sir, patience is a wonderful virtue, it’s a bit later in the speech but stand by. Then, where do we spend it? Healthcare. Most developed nations enjoy Healthcare free at the point of delivery as we do. That is absolutely the bedrock of any health system. But we have to be honest and we’re the first political party that has the courage to tell it as it is.
NHS Reform
There’s some wonderful frontline efforts and care but the truth is the NHS is in crisis, it’s not fit for purpose. We all know it. We all see and feel experiences that are not working. We have to be honest and say that it needs fundamental major reform.
Now the way we do that, the last thing we need to do is to give billions more to the bungling incompetent wasteful NHS bureaucrats. But here’s what we do so with those savings that I’ve just talked about, yes, we can allocate about another 10% to healthcare in the UK about £17 billion pounds.
But we would do two things. Firstly frontline health and social care staff as I’ve said before they should receive basic rate income tax relief. Because we need to retain good staff. We need to attract recently departed staff back into the NHS. We need the NHS to use the huge Independent Health Care capacity out there. Which is a combination of Charities not for-profit groups and private hospitals and health clinics and the like.
Zero Waiting Lists
Because what we need to do is, we need to buy millions and millions of operations. Because the target, we’re the only party with a serious ambition and a belief and a passion that we can get in two years. We make this a national endeavour. We can get waiting list down to zero, that is the objective. We’re the only party with that belief but it requires fundamental reform that’s what you’ve got to do.
The other thing is and this will enrage the people on the left good. What we say to people is if you can afford to pay a bit more then morally would like to encourage you to pay a bit more. So, we’ll incentivize you through the tax system to pay a bit more. So, if for example if you and your family if you’re buying Private health insurance you should get basic rate tax relief on it.
Health Insurance Tax Relief
If you’re self-pay you’re easing pressure on the NHS which helps everybody because if we ease pressure on the NHS everybody benefits. So that everybody will get faster better care. The net result is the pain is gone sooner, the suffering is ended faster and people live longer, healthier lives.
So this is a fundamental reshaping of how we do Healthcare but it’s still always free at the point of delivery. It’s an extra £17 billion quid into Healthcare in the UK but not to the bungling incompetent NHS managers, they will waste it we know that.
I know what the lefties will say it is privatizing the NHS. No, I’m not, no we’re not, we’re protecting the NHS by taking pressure off it, that’s what we’re doing.
The truth is we’re saving the NHS although I thought the NHS’s job was to save us. This is the way to protect the NHS, to take pressure off it permanently. So that everybody gets free at the point of delivery, faster, better care and this is what this election campaign over the next few months needs to be.
Law and Order
We need to have this philosophical debate and we’re the only people with the courage to do so. It’s absolutely essential we talk about in the Contract with the People. Also Ann bless her, I’m like the warm-up act for Ann. She’ll talk more about policing and justice but we’ve got extra investment. We need at least another 30 to 40,000 bobbies on the beat and we can fund that with these savings because Law and Order at the moment is collapsing.
We don’t feel safe on the streets. in education we’re the only party with the courage to say we don’t want our children and our grandchildren taught all of this mad gender ideology questioning. Social transitioning, it’s all in here and thank you for that Applause. The fact that no other party has the guts to say it, I’m pleased to confirm that I know what a woman is!
I mean what an absolutely mad world that I should even need to say that For Heaven’s Sake.
Education
I mean I think I’m literally the only party leader that actually just tells it as it is. No one knows where Ed Davy is, I think he’s trying to work it out. Maybe he’s reading the dictionary. I mean seriously, the other thing we have to ban in schools is this critical race theory nonsense. It’s actually quite easy how you do this. The Secretary of State for Education writes to the head of every primary teacher a head teacher, every Secondary School head teacher and says this stops this weekend.
I tell you what, to allow for our Royal Mail the snail mail maybe next weekend but it stops and if it doesn’t stop, you’re fired. And guess what it’ll stop. It’s a bit like when I say to all the managers in the Departments all the quangos, the commissions all that lot you’ve got to save £5 in every £100. If you don’t, you’re fired. Guess what, they’ll save £5 in every £100 that’s what happens in the world of business. Yes, I know it’s tough but sometimes life is tough.
That’s just the reality you know we’ve all come through the School of Hard Knocks that’s the reality. I don’t sense there’s many snowflakes here in the room. I missed that sir; we’re fed up with them you’re quite right. We’ve got to tell it as it is, it’s absolutely vital and then there’s the issue of benefits. Our benefits bill is going through the roof. We’ve got well over 5 million on out of work benefits.
Benefits
One in eight of the working age population. What we want is a world leading benefit system that protects the genuinely ill, disabled and vulnerable, the genuinely unemployed. That’s who we are, that’s what we are and let’s be brilliant at it.
But equally we have to recognize that because of the way that the Tories have developed this system there are lots of people who want to be in work, who are trapped because that work doesn’t pay for too many people. That’s why our income policy is so vital all of a sudden you change that calculation at the end of the week net. Am I better off or worse off working or on benefits?
We’re the only people with the courage to tell it as it is and yes, I know the lefties will hate this, but we’re the party of the workers and the Strivers. We’re not the party of the shirkers and the skievers.
Defence of the Realm
There’s another key element within this Contract with the People which I think is absolutely vital we talk about Defence. Did Grant Shapps the other month he went to do a little sort of exercise you may have heard to look at a missile launch, part of our nuclear deterrent. I think the word is plop. Apparently, I could throw a cricket ball further than that missile went.
I mean honestly, we’ve got two aircraft carriers stuck in Portsmouth, nothing works in the MOD, they’re procurement is a disaster, but we live in dangerous times sadly and because of the savings in our contract we need to get spending on Defence to 2.5% of GDP within 3 years to 3% of GDP within 6 years and we work out how to fund that.
But, I think it’s fair to say we need some other people in charge of procurement in the MOD. The next thing is clearly as part of our Defence. Our veterans and we’re going to establish you see the Tories they’ve sort of done their usual thing. They talk a good game and they’ve set up a little office in some back corridor somewhere and stuck dear old Johnny Mercer in it with no cash. Useless.
Veterans
We’re going to set up a whole Department of Veteran Affairs because well I haven’t allocated a few million quid like the Tories no. I’ve allocated a billion quid to it every single year because our veterans, our veterans they are treasured assets they have so much to give to the country.
We should be using that incredible talent, that experience, that logistics expertise to make things happen the discipline, the structure, the can do attitude, it’s absolutely unique we should be celebrating it and welcoming it frankly to run most of the rest of the public sector.
Imagine if veterans were running police forces as the chief super. It used to happen 40 or 50 years ago it should almost now be a required qualification. Imagine if top Army Logistics people were organizing hospitals as the Chief Operating Officer imagine.
I’m pretty sure they’d sort out the A&E waiting lists. Pretty sure they’d get the ambulances empty when they arrive at A&E.
Veterans Could Sort Many of our Problems
I’m pretty sure they’d remove the bed blocking because they have a can do attitude. We want our Department of Veterans to be an absolute bedrock it’ll help also overcome the recruitment crisis in the Defence Forces because people will feel part of a unique special team.
Young people will look up and aspire to that there. Some really good stuff in this Contract with the People that I urge you to read about this and I’m very grateful to all of those who’ve helped piece this together.
I actually think it’s a key part of this document. In America they look after their veterans properly and so should we.
Families
There’s other great bits in our Contract with the People in particular for example children and families and having taken the input from various people we’ve also got in there a really important thing to help parents of children. So that if you’ve got one parent at home looking after the children you can share a percentage of the second tax allowance that is a massive difference.
We’re saying for married parents you can share 25% of the second tax allowance. It’s a big allocation of money, but it’s really important we talk about housing, we talk about transport and infrastructure, and then Rupert Lowe will talk about Agriculture & fishing. We’ve allocated money.
June, the lovely June Mummery, the brilliant June she would be here but unfortunately she is unwell, to talk about fishing but we’ve also got we’ve got about two billion a year in here for fishing and Coastal communities.
There some really important information in the Contract with the People, and then I come to what the gentleman was impatient over there about the Constitution and I love impatience.
No to the World Economic Forum
I’m impatient that’s why these reforms are critical and I’ll just run through some of them the first thing is I don’t think we need anything to do with the World Economic Forum.
The second thing is frankly unless there’s fundamental reform to the way it’s funded and its structure I’m not sure we want anything to do with the World Health Organization. Whilst I’m on that subject I think it’s really important given that we’ve got a serious problem with excess death at the moment that nobody in the government wants to talk about.
Nobody wants to talk about this I started talking about it 13 months ago, we need an inquiry, not only into excess deaths but also into vaccine harms. It’s essential again surprise the establishment doesn’t want to talk about this.
We’re the only party that says it as it is and then our Good Old Friends The House of Lords. I think that probably needs some pretty serious reform. We’ve got lots of friends around; the BBC. We clearly need to abolish the existing license fee and have a complete reset of how the BBC is organized.
PR and the Voting System
Here we are sir our electoral system, proportional representation. We need that the current system is totally unfair it perpetuates basically a monopoly between the two main parties. It’s an outrage, we need PR. But we also need fundamental change to the postal voting system which I’m afraid is open to extraordinary abuse.
I did a test the other day just to check this out when you sign up for a postal vote, you can’t believe this, you’d sort of think well it’s pretty important they send the postal vote form to the address where you’re claiming you can vote from. No, no you can ask to send the postal vote form to the other end of the country so guess what’s happening? You’re getting houses in certain towns which have got two bedrooms and you’ve got eight voters registered at that address. This is what’s going on.
Postal Vote Fraud
We saw it in Peterborough and I’m really serious and very concerned that we’re seeing it as we speak in some constituencies now. The postal vote represents 30% plus of all voters now. Yes, for many people it can be convenient but if it’s open to widespread abuse and fraud you can have some by elections and some elections where the game’s already over the moment the postal votes go out.
This is absolutely fundamentally wrong. We’ve got to change this stuff. We’ve got to reform the way our constitution works other bits of the Constitution. We’ve got to get rid of this ridiculous Equalities Act in 2010. It is driving us all nuts. Classic case of well-intentioned stuff that’s been just abused, used by all the lawyers are making a fortune at everybody else’s expense.
DEI – Division, Exclusion and Inequality
You’ve got all these lovely sounding diversity, equality and inclusion officers why don’t we all just actually take that upon ourselves? Meritocratic equality. I don’t need some £100k paid officer to tell us how to do it. The money we’re wasting everywhere on all this stuff and it’s a massive drain on businesses ability to compete a huge drag. We’ve got to stop this stuff oh and another friend of ours the European Convention on Human Rights. Let’s have a straw poll shall we. Anyone want to stay in it?
I don’t think so either. All of this stuff is absolutely vital and it’s all in here and if we don’t do this I’m afraid that our country is going to continue to decline.
Campaign with Optimism
I’m an optimist, you have to be in politics but we are making great progress and I know that with this Contract with the People, with your help with the help of all our supporters, all our candidates, we are going to make a massive difference in this election campaign.
I also know that we’re the first people out of the blocks with this contract with the people. It’s going to shape the debate and we need that we absolutely need it and when they attack us and they smear us and they try to cancel us, well no one’s cancelling me and I hope no one’s cancelling you.
I’ll tell you what, it means when they do this stuff and they call us names what it actually means is they’ve lost the argument. That’s the reality, they’ve lost the argument. We’ve got to have the courage to have this battle because literally the future of our country is at stake.
I’m going to be talking later about culture, about immigration about democracy, but I promise you ladies and gentlemen our country is in a bad State. It’s sinking under Sunak and Starmer will make things worse but with this contract together all of us we are ready to save Britain.
Thank you very much.