“Cutting Taxes CAN Mean Not Putting Them Up As Much, I Suppose”

If McDonalds used this logic in a TV advert about Big Macs, the regulator would never allow it on your screens. In politics, no such luck.

If you’ve been on the look-out for a cast-iron example of why our political system needs a good, hefty kick up the backside, I’m here to tell you that your quest is over.

And - as is so often the case - we have Mr Farage to thank for that. Who says he never does anything good?

Think back to last year’s local elections. I know it’s hard, what with the world busy packing a decade of events into every 12 month period, but give it a go. Specifically, think back to what Farage was saying at the time about taxes.

If you’re struggling, let me help: He was promising that Reform would cut your taxes. He was pointing at the enormous salaries of the ‘fat cats’ who run our councils and the state of our pothole-ridden roads and promising that, if you only voted Reform into power, you could have silky-smooth roads and money back in your pocket to boot. It almost sounded too good to be true.

And it wasn’t a slip of the tongue after a particularly refreshing lunch either. It was a promise plastered over many of his party’s election leaflets.

In Lancashire, the Reform leaflet said: “We fight for lower council tax.”

In Kent, it said: “Reduce waste and cut your taxes.”

Across the country, in leaflet after leaflet - many bearing Nigel Farage’s smiling face - Reform UK went into last year’s local elections with a message so simple even they couldn’t misunderstand it. Vote for us. We’ll cut your taxes.

And, sure enough, they won big. Reform swept to outright majority control of ten councils. In Kent, it was a landslide. In Durham, a political earthquake. Even Darren Grimes (‘Crafty’ to his mates) got a seat. Voters who had never voted anything but Labour put their cross next to Reform, trusting a promise printed in black and white.

Then the bills arrived.

Every single Reform-controlled council in England raised council tax. Not one has cut it. Not one has even frozen it. Every single one has put it up.

Kent? Up 3.99%. Derbyshire? Up 4.90%. Staffordshire? Up 3.99%. North Northamptonshire? Up 4.99% - the maximum possible without the need for a referendum.

And then there’s Worcestershire, where Reform runs a minority administration. Up 8.98%. (That is not a typo - nearly NINE percent.) Reform’s council leaders actively sought and received special government permission to raise it that high.

Reform’s own figures claim an average rise of 3.94% across their councils. Independent analysis puts the figure at 4.32%. But I’m not here to split hairs - either way, there’s no minus sign in front of those numbers.

That is quite a journey from “cut your taxes.”

And Now, The Gaslighting

What sets this apart from ordinary political promise-breaking is not the broken promise itself. Local government finance is brutal. Councils inherit debt. Social care costs are relentless. Any honest party taking control of cash-strapped councils would have to make painful choices on tax.

The real difference is how Farage has responded.

When ITV News Meridian confronted him with the Kent leaflet - one of the ones that literally says “cut your taxes” - Farage replied: “Well, cutting taxes could mean not putting them up as much, I suppose…but I never promised cuts in council tax.”

Later, he was actually shown a leaflet with the words “cut your taxes” on it, and still he maintained he never promised to cut taxes. In the same breath, he redefined “cutting” as “raising less than the other lot would have.”

Imagine if McDonalds aired an advert claiming to have cut the price of a Big Mac when they’d actually raised the price by 10p, justifying it on grounds that Burger King had put the price of a Whopper up by 15p? The Advertising Standards Agency would come down on them like a tonne of bricks, and someone in McDonalds would likely - and rightly - lose their job.

When Channel 4’s Paul McNamara challenged him on this issue, Farage tried a different line. Those were “national policies,” he said, clearly implying that voters would be mugs to believe that the stuff on the back of the local election leaflet would have anything to do with the local elections. I’m not joking.

Why This Matters Beyond Council Tax

The council tax story is important in its own right. Real people in Kent, Durham and elsewhere made real decisions at the ballot box based on a real written promise. That promise was broken. And the man who made it is now redefining the English language to pretend it wasn’t.

But the deeper problem is the playbook it reveals.

Make bold, simple promises. Win power. Fail to deliver. Then deny you ever made those promises. (And take on an indignant air as you do it, just for the lols.)

This isn’t a one-off. It’s how Farage has operated for a decade. During the Brexit campaign, he stood in front of a poster promising to “take back control” of immigration. When net migration hit record highs after Brexit, he just said it was someone else’s fault. The Remainers screwed-up the implementation. The Tories betrayed Brexit.

The council tax story is the same trick, played on the local stage - but this time we have better evidence with which to shine a light on it. Because this time, the leaflets are still out there. The TV footage exists. The council tax bills are still sitting behind the clock above the fireplace. The only thing that’s changed is amount of brass in Farage’s neck as he tells us that we’re the ones misremembering.

If Nigel Farage cannot be held accountable for a promise printed in ink on a campaign leaflet, what happens when he’s making promises about the NHS, about defence, about your rights at work or the rights we all depend on to hold our politicians accountable when they lie? The polls currently project Reform winning a landslide majority at the next general election - potentially on the votes of barely three in ten of those who turn up to vote. The office of Prime Minister provides a lot of power, perhaps way too much for a man who treats his own promises as first drafts.

So remember: He promised to cut your taxes. He raised them. And now he’s telling you that raising taxes is actually cutting them. And you’re the idiot for not understanding that.

And when he and his mates knock on your door in the coming weeks, ask them to explain - in REAL English - where we’re all going wrong.