Reform UK Policies Explained: What Farage’s Party Would Do

By Matt, Editor

Reform UK policies centre on four promises: stopping the small boats by putting the Royal Navy in the Channel, leaving the European Convention on Human Rights so illegal migrants can be deported, cutting taxes for working people by raising the tax-free personal allowance to £15,000, and paying for it with £80bn of savings from welfare, net zero schemes, the civil service and foreign aid. This explainer sets out what Nigel Farage’s party has actually pledged, what it says each policy costs, and what its critics say. It also covers the points still being argued over.

What are Reform UK’s main policies?

Reform UK publishes its programme on its official policy page. The headline offer is a government that “fixes Britain” in a hurry. The party says ministers who fail to deliver their pledges will resign, which is a deliberate contrast with the broken promises voters remember from the Conservative and Labour years.

The programme falls into five broad areas: border control and deportations, tax and the cost of living, energy, law and order, and defence. Each is covered below. Taken together, they amount to the most direct challenge to the post-2010 Westminster consensus that any party polling at Reform’s level has put forward.

Policy area	Reform UK pledge	Status today (October 2026)
Small boats	Royal Navy in the Channel under “Operation Fortress”, returning boats to France or Belgium	Labour relies on French policing. The UK–France “one in, one out” deal expired on 1 October 2026
Human rights law	Leave the ECHR and repeal the Human Rights Act	Labour is staying in the ECHR and reforming Article 8 through the Immigration and Asylum Bill
Settlement	Abolish indefinite leave to remain (ILR) and replace it with a five-year renewable visa	Labour is consulting on “earned settlement” with a ten-year baseline
Income tax	Raise the personal allowance from £12,570 to £15,000	The allowance is frozen at £12,570 until 2031
Energy bills	£250 off bills by removing policy costs	Policy costs remain on bills

How would Reform UK stop the small boats?

Reform’s border plan comes in two stages. The first, “Operation Fortress”, would deploy the Royal Navy in the Channel to intercept migrant boats and take them back to France or Belgium. The second, “Operation Restoring Justice”, is a five-year programme to detain and deport everyone in Britain illegally. The party says it would set up a UK Deportation Command, run up to five deportation flights a day, and use visa sanctions against countries that refuse to take their nationals back.

Under the plan, anyone who enters illegally would be ineligible for asylum. A “Deliveroo Law” would target the gig-economy work that keeps people here without status. Reform has also gone after the charities working around the Channel route, and Nigel Farage has demanded prosecutions where it believes the law is being broken.

The case for acting is plain from the Home Office’s own figures. More than 41,000 people crossed in small boats in 2025. Crossings in 2026 are down on last year, but they have not stopped, and Border Force warnings of thousands massing on the French coast suggest the pressure has not gone away.

Why does Reform UK want to leave the ECHR?

Reform argues that Britain cannot run a working deportation system while the European Convention on Human Rights, interpreted by the Strasbourg court and applied at home through the Human Rights Act 1998, lets claimants block removals under Article 3 (inhuman treatment) and Article 8 (family and private life). The House of Commons Library confirms that both the Conservatives and Reform now say they would leave the convention.

Labour’s answer is to stay in and reinterpret Article 8 through legislation. Reform calls this tinkering. Its case is a sovereignty one: Parliament, not a foreign court, should have the final word on who stays in Britain. We cover the detail in our explainer on the convention itself.

What would Reform UK do about immigration and settlement?

Reform’s most far-reaching migration pledge is to abolish indefinite leave to remain, the status that lets migrants settle permanently and later apply for citizenship. Existing awards would be rescinded and replaced with a five-year renewable visa. According to the party’s policy page, people holding status under the EU Settlement Scheme are not in scope. Reform also says foreign nationals should not be able to claim benefits.

The scale of settlement grants explains why this lands with voters. As we reported, settlement is being granted at a rate of roughly one migrant every minute. Critics, including employers and some legal experts, argue that rescinding existing ILR would be legally and practically fraught and would hit people who followed the rules. This is one of the policies most likely to face court challenge.

What are Reform UK’s tax policies?

Reform’s flagship tax pledge is to raise the personal allowance, the amount you can earn before paying income tax, from £12,570 to £15,000. The party says this would save most basic-rate taxpayers £486 a year and take about 2.9 million people out of income tax altogether. BBC News reported that Reform costs the measure at £17.7bn in its first year, rising to £21bn. The 2024 manifesto promised £20,000, which the party still describes as its long-term aim.

Other tax pledges include:

• cutting employer National Insurance from 15% back to 13.8%, funded by a Migrant Labour Levy on firms that hire from abroad;
• no tax on overtime worked above 40 hours a week for people earning under £75,000;
• raising the VAT registration threshold to £150,000 to help small businesses grow;
• reversing Labour’s inheritance tax changes for family farms.

How would Reform UK pay for its tax cuts?

At its September 2026 conference at the NEC in Birmingham, Reform set out £80bn of spending cuts to be delivered within five years: about £50bn from welfare, £10bn from scrapping net zero programmes, £8bn from a smaller civil service and £7.1bn from capping foreign aid. The party says the state pension triple lock would be kept. Labour called the plan “incredibly reckless”.

Whether the sums add up is disputed. Reform’s figures are its own estimates and have not been independently costed by the Office for Budget Responsibility. Supporters reply that every government’s manifesto is costed by the party writing it, and that Labour’s own record of borrowing and tax rises leaves it badly placed to lecture anyone on fiscal responsibility.

What is Reform UK’s policy on energy and net zero?

Reform promises £250 off household energy bills by stripping out the policy costs that fund green schemes. It opposes the legally binding net zero by 2050 target and has voted against new carbon budgets in the Commons. The party wants more North Sea oil and gas, arguing that importing energy instead of producing it at home makes Britain poorer and less secure. Under Andy Burnham’s government, Labour has doubled down on net zero by 2050, so energy policy is now one of the clearest dividing lines in British politics.

What else is in Reform UK’s programme?

• Defence: spending of 3.5% of GDP by 2035.
• Crime: no early release for serious offenders, plus a wider policing plan focused on visible, local enforcement.
• Housing: 50,000 affordable homes a year.
• Education and skills: scaling back university provision to fund apprenticeships.
• NHS: Reform says the health service stays free at the point of use.

What do supporters and critics say?

The case for

Supporters say Reform is the only party prepared to deliver what voters were promised in 2016 and have been promised in every election since: control of the borders and lower immigration. They argue that both main parties have had their chance. They also point to polling showing Reform ahead of Labour, and to the defection of senior former Conservatives such as Robert Jenrick and Suella Braverman, as evidence that the party has become a serious contender for government. Reform’s poll lead over Labour under Burnham is the backdrop to everything it now announces.

The case against

Critics say the welfare savings would mean real cuts for vulnerable claimants. They argue that a navy turnback policy would need French cooperation and would raise safety and legal problems, and that leaving the ECHR could complicate the Good Friday Agreement and the UK’s security cooperation with the EU. Labour argues the overall package is unaffordable. Reform’s answer is that the status quo is the expensive option, given that the asylum system alone costs billions a year.

Why do Reform UK’s policies matter?

Reform’s policies matter because they are setting the agenda. The Conservatives have since adopted ECHR withdrawal. Labour has moved to tighten Article 8 and end asylum hotels. A party that many in Westminster once wrote off is now forcing its rivals to answer its questions on its terms.

What happens next?

The next general election must be held by 2029. Between now and then, expect Reform to firm up its costings, publish more detail on how deportations would work in practice, and face growing scrutiny as a potential party of government. The big test will be whether it can turn a poll lead into seats under first past the post.

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Frequently asked questions

Does Reform UK want to leave the ECHR?

Yes. Reform’s policy is to leave the European Convention on Human Rights and repeal the Human Rights Act 1998 as part of its deportation programme.

What is Reform UK’s tax-free allowance pledge?

Reform would raise the personal allowance from £12,570 to £15,000. It says this would save most basic-rate taxpayers £486 a year and take 2.9 million people out of income tax.

How would Reform UK pay for its policies?

Reform has pledged £80bn of spending cuts within five years, mainly from welfare, net zero programmes, the civil service and foreign aid. These are the party’s own figures.

Would Reform UK scrap the NHS?

No. Reform’s published policy says the NHS will remain free at the point of use.

Does Reform UK’s ILR plan affect EU citizens with settled status?

According to Reform’s policy page, people holding status under the EU Settlement Scheme are not in scope of the plan to abolish indefinite leave to remain.

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Sources

• Reform UK – Our policies
• BBC News – Reform UK promises £80bn of cuts to public spending (September 2026)
• BBC News – Reform promises to increase tax-free personal allowance to £15,000 (September 2026)
• House of Commons Library – Immigration and the ECHR
• Home Office – Migrants detected crossing the English Channel in small boats