Nigel Farage promises tax cut for Army, Navy and RAF reservists under Reform UK government to boost Britain's Armed Forces

Published: 14:00 EDT, 20 October 2026 | Updated: 14:53 EDT, 20 October 2026 Nigel Farage has vowed that Armed Forces reservists would pay no tax on their service to Britain under a Reform UK government.The Reform leader said that Army, Navy and RAF reserves - who serve in their spare time - would not pay tax on their service earnings in a bid to boost recruitment.Announcing the policy on Tuesday at a rally in Plymouth - the home of the Royal Navy - Mr Farage said ‘there is a massive problem with recruitment’ in Britain’s Armed Forces.‘And there's also a complete underplaying of the essential role played by our reserve forces,’ he said. ‘We rely on reservists at all levels, and there's currently a recruitment problem getting people to sign up.’Mr Farage said that Reform would be ‘the party that will incentivise those that stand up’, adding: ‘We will put it in place that anyone that signs up as a reservist and does their bit will face no tax on the pay they receive.’Reform has previously announced that it would not levy tax on overtime, and under this proposal every hour worked as a reservist would be treated as overtime, so there would be no tax to pay.Reservists serve in the evenings and at weekends and most roles ask for 27 days commitment a year. Pay varies by role, with fresh recruits paid about £63 a day and a Sergeant about £106.Reservists who meet their minimum training commitments also qualify for a tax-free bonus. This varies by level of commitment and starts at about £558 in year one. Nigel Farage announced that under a Reform UK government there would be a tax cut for Army, Navy and RAF reservistsFor example, a new recruit could earn about £2,200 based on 27 days commitment a year, rising to £5,100 for somebody in the rank of Sergeant.In June, the Conservatives pledged to make a reservist's first 30 days of service per financial year tax-free in a bid to increase part-time members of the Armed Forces to 50,000. There are currently about 32,000 reservists.It came as Mr Farage revealed that the so-called 'bad boys of Brexit' are reuniting after Andy Burnham announced plans to betray the result of the EU referendum.The Reform UK leader said he has been talking to Leave donor Arron Banks - who ran the Leave.EU movement - and the pair are meeting next week, with Mr Farage adding: ‘We’re getting reactivated.’‘I've been talking to Arron Banks, who, as you know, was a massive donor, put £8million in cash and resources into the Leave campaign,’ Mr Farage said. ‘I'm seeing him next week, and yeah, we're getting reactivated.’He added: ‘If Burnham wants to fight on this, we will give him a fight on this. So yes, we've had two or three discussions. We're going to meet next week. We're definitely going to reactivate.‘You know, I mean, it can't be called Leave.EU, we're going to have to rebrand it in some way.’The Prime Minister was accused of betrayal after setting out plans to unpick the Brexit settlement at Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool earlier this month.He said he would use a UK-EU summit this autumn to open a debate about Britain's relationship with the EU, with potential options including joining the single market or customs union or going 'all the way' and rejoining the EU, with or without a referendum.