Dear John, 

April Fools' Day is here again, but in full transparency we couldn’t think of anything as ridiculous as global politics right now, so here are five times Reform UK tried to take us all for fools…

1. Make pay while the sun shines!

In February, Deputy leader Richard Tice argued that taxes should be imposed on the renewable energy sector, arguing that it was little more than “a massive con”. Tice’s antagonism towards renewable energy must have come as quite a surprise to his fellow shareholders at the real estate business, Quidnet REIT (for whom he is the largest shareholder). Because in 2022, Richard “we will scrap net stupid zero” Tice wrote in his Quidnet REIT Annual Report that fitting solar panels and electric car charging stations to properties will…

“save hundreds of tonnes of CO2 every year and help our occupiers with lower electricity bills than they might otherwise have to pay, as well as provide an attractive return for shareholders” 

Forget Richard Lionheart, it’s Richard Change-of-Heart.

2. Reaping what you sow

You may have seen a certain Nigel Farage clad in Barbour recently, employing one of his new favourite acts, as the British farmer's best friend. Which is odd isn’t it? Because I am sure you remember that Farage was very quick to throw farmers under the proverbial “£350 million for our NHS” bus during the EU referendum. One of his favourite lines was claiming that food would be cheaper (yes you read that right) outside of the EU as we could import cheap produce from all over the world. 

In actual fact, Brexit has raised the yearly cost of food by £250 per household. British farmers also lost the £3.5 billion subsidy from the Common Agricultural Policy after the UK left the EU, with the Tory-created replacement a poor substitute. Since the UK left the EU there has been a 20% drop in British food exports as trade barriers between us and our largest trading partner grow, whilst replacement trade deals such as the UK-Australia deal have caused anxiety for British farmers who fear being undercut.

3. Farage backs freedom of movement (but not for you)

One of Farage’s pet peeves is economic migration and for more than two decades, he has been banging the anti-immigration drum. You can imagine our (lack of) surprise when an investigation into Farage’s second jobs found that he was paid £40,000 by a US-led organisation called Nomad Capitalist. A quick look at Nomad Capitalist reveals that they are focused on…economic migration! In particular, how to use economic migration to avoid paying tax. Their website states:

“At Nomad Capitalist, we’ve helped over 1,500 clients protect their wealth and freedom through options like the Portugal Golden Visa or a St. Kitts passport.”

Farage has previously labelled tax avoiders “the common enemy”. All while admitting to using offshore tax routes, and being accused of using private companies to reduce his tax bill.

4. She’s had a Mayor!

Turning to a recent Reform recruitee, former Conservative MP for Morley and Outwood, Andrea Jenkyns. Joining Ann Widdecombe and Lee Anderson as former Conservative MPs to jump ship to Reform UK, Jenkyns was announced as the Reform candidate for the new mayorship of Greater Lincolnshire by Farage in November. 

Interestingly, when Jenkyns was the Skills Minister in 2022 she told the Local Government Chronicle that she was “not a proponent of elected mayors, if I’m honest”. Rejecting the idea that mayors should have more devolution powers, Jenkyns told reporters that “I like to see money ringfenced, because how do we know it's not going to be used for political gain?”.  At the time Andy Street, the then-Conservative mayor of the West Midlands, was heavily critical of Jenkyn's devo-skepticism. Perhaps Street’s words struck a chord for Jenkyns as she limbers up for her campaign to become… an elected mayor!

5. Milking it!

We live in volatile and troubling times. A war rages on the European continent and there is an egomaniac in the White House, but for some there are much graver threats in our midst. When he is not swanning around Mar-A-Lago, and certainly when he is not in Clacton, Farage found the time to film a short video in December bemoaning the treachery of the modern age…left-wing milk.

Was this milk wearing a Che Guevara t-shirt? Perhaps it was reading Das Kapital in between brews? In actual fact the milk on offer was semi-skimmed, almond, and oat based. The shock. The horror. So onlookers will have no doubt been appalled to see that Reform UK had gone ‘woke’ at a recent press conference where the party offered such left-wing options as soya and almond milk.

I hope you have a wonderful April Fools', I have a feeling we will be seeing a lot more gaffes soon...

Joshua Edwicker

Content Officer

Best for Britain