This is Reform’s 100-day plan – but can it move past the donation scandal?

The message Reform UK hoped to land at its annual conference is clear: we’re ready for power. The new slogan, ‘the first 100 days’, is plastered across the three-day event in Birmingham where Reform and Nigel Farage have set out what they intend to do in government. But that message has been overshadowed by questions over whether the party broke rules on foreign donations. An undercover investigation by Channel 4 News and the investigative outfit, Verbatim, appeared to capture senior Reform UK figures discussing ways of securing money from a US-based donor without breaching UK electoral laws. The party also faces scrutiny over its finances in relation to a donation made by a Thai-based businessman and ties to convicted fraudster, George Cottrell. The sting led to the resignation of Farage’s longstanding aide, Dan Jukes, and the party’s head of policy, James Orr. Reform has been reported to the police by its rivals. But senior Reform figures have attempted to push ahead as normal, announcing a string of policies from tax rises to a “carrot and stick approach” on benefits, and scrapping “net stupid zero”. Taxes Robert Jenrick has promised to increase the tax-free personal allowance to £15,000 during his first Budget. Outlining his pledge for the first 100 days of a Reform-led government, the party’s Treasury spokesperson claimed it would save most taxpayers around £500 a year while 2.9m people would stop paying income tax altogether. The tax-free allowance is set at £12,570 and has been frozen since 2021. Ministers have extended the freeze several times, with former Chancellor Rachel Reeves pushing the date back to 2031 in last year’s Budget. Robert Jenrick speaks during the party conference, in Birmingham. (Photo: Temilade Adelaja/Reuters) Jenrick told the BBC the policy would provide “money that people really need right now” and that it would be paid for by “cutting out the waste”, including £52bn from welfare reform, £7bn from foreign aid cuts and £10bn by ending net zero subsidies. He told the party conference he eventually wanted to hit Reform’s “ambition” of a £20,000 tax-free allowance – as the party previously pledged in its 2024 general election manifesto – and would be “a tax cut for 40 million people, the biggest rise in the personal allowance in its history, and delivered not in 10 years but in my very first Budget”. Reform has previously committed itself to a number of tax cuts, including last year saying it would aim to abolish inheritance tax although Farage backtracked on the party’s pledge at the last general election to slash taxes by £90bn a year. Welfare and pensions Reform’s welfare policy will be a “carrot and stick approach” by cracking down on who gets benefits, the party’s spokesperson for finance and government efficiency said. Speaking to a fringe event at the party’s conference, Cai Tomos Parry-Jones said: “When it comes to how can we help the next generation avoid ending up on benefits, there’s a carrot and a stick approach. “So there’s the make benefits harder to get, make benefits a worse option… But they also need opportunities.” Last month, Reform published a document outlining how it planned to make £50bn cuts to the welfare bill, including around £20bn by taking away benefits from foreign nationals and £21bn from reforming health benefits, including personal independence payments. While benefits for those the “severely disabled” would be protected, the party stated that 2.89 million people with PIP would be “reassessed over time”, leading to payments being withdrawn and replaced with a new “disability needs assessment”. Labour dismissed the plans as “fantasy economics” and claimed it would mean a 25 per cent cut to the current welfare bill of £353bn – just under half of which goes on the state pension. The Tories called it a “half-baked policy” and an attempt to “distract” from questions over whether Farage should have declared a £5m gift from Thai-based cryptobillionaire Christopher Harborne. Reform has pledged to keep the state pension triple lock, which guarantees the state pension increases each year with either inflation, wage increases or 2.5 per cent – whichever is highest. Asked whether the triple lock should remain, Parry-Jones said current Reform policy is that it was “not touching pensions”. Reform has also pledged to restore the two-child benefit cap, which would limit families from claiming extra child entitlement under Universal Credit. Immigration Farage agreed a deal with France’s hard-right National Rally (RN) party to return migrants attempting to cross the English Channel in small boats. He signed a “memorandum of understanding” with RN’s President Jordan Bardella during the Reform conference, agreeing to “intercept boats which have launched from French shores” and return those onboard back to France. “France will ordinarily accept these persons, who will be repatriated to their home country in accordance with the law in force in France concerning expulsion,” the agreement stated. Giving a speech in the main conference hall, Farage promised to “stop the boats within the first 100 days of government”, making it his personal responsibility to bring migrant numbers down. Nigel Farage joins Jordan Bardella, president of France’s National Rally party, on stage during the signing of a memorandum of understanding on the first day of the Reform Party conference at National Exhibition Centre (Photo: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images) Small boat arrivals reached 41,000 in 2025 but fell to 33,000 in June 2026 with Labour putting it down to their joint policing efforts with the French authorities. It comes after Reform received criticism last month after announcing a plan to intercept small boats and return migrants to French ports using the Royal Navy. The French interior ministry said it would “constitute a violation of French sovereignty, as well as a violation of the law of the sea and international law”. Reform has also vowed to stop the Channel crossings by deporting 600,000 migrants over five years, saying anyone coming to the UK in a small boat will be barred from claiming asylum, and that countries such as Afghanistan will be paid to take their nationals back. Energy and net zero Pledging to scrap net zero has played a big role at the party’s annual conference, with deputy leader Richard Tice branding it “stupid” and Parry-Jones adding that it “doesn’t make any sense”. Speaking at a fringe event at Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre, Tice said that current energy policies could lead the nation into “serious blackouts” and price rises. “What I’ve politely called net stupid zero is the greatest policy mistake” by the “wallies in Westminster this century”, he said. “It is absolutely catastrophic and historians will look back and think what on earth are you doing.” Only last month, the party’s business, trade and energy spokesperson faced criticism after suggesting people should enjoy warmer weather caused by climate change, saying: “When it’s a bit warm, let’s enjoy it. And if it means that English wine and sparkling wine gets better and better, fantastic.” Tice pledged to reduce energy bills by £250 in the first 100 days of a Reform-led government by cutting taxes on gas generators, permanently removing VAT from energy bills and scrapping policies including the renewables obligation, feed-in tariffs and the warm homes discount. Education Reform has also outlined changes to education, with plans to crack down on the number of young people going to university and ideas for how to reform special educational needs and disabilities. Suella Braverman, Reform’s education and skills spokesperson, is expected to announce how the party would change student tuition fees, with Farage saying there are currently “too many young people going to university”. In an interview with The i Paper, George Finch, the 20-year-old leader of Warwickshire County Council, said former Labour leader Tony Blair “destroyed the country” by forcing young people to go to university and build up “massive debts”. He said the number of universities should “decrease”, while the number of apprenticeship courses should “increase” in areas such as construction. Braverman has previously said that if the party gets into power, it will introduce “patriotic” history lessons and require every school to display the King’s portrait and fly the Union flag.