Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice has attacked Andy Burnham’s programme for government, accusing the Prime Minister of failing to address immediate economic pressures and warning that his policies could lead Britain towards what he called the “carnage of socialist chaos”.
Tice was responding to Burnham’s Labour conference speech, in which the Prime Minister outlined plans spanning energy prices, pensions, public ownership and Britain’s future relationship with the European Union, GB News reported.
The Reform business spokesman argued that the speech failed to address what he described as the immediate crises facing households and businesses, including high energy costs, fuel prices and disruption to the power system.
“This is nothing short of a failure to address the crises facing the country, whether it’s on boats, energy prices, blackouts, or the price of petrol and diesel,” Tice said.
“This is a manyana prime minister who’s just completely out of touch with the dramas that the country faces today and this winter.”
Tice also rejected praise for Burnham’s address, including suggestions that it ranked among the country’s great political speeches.
“Goodness me, you must be a hard socialist that describes it like that,” he said.
He focused particular criticism on Burnham’s proposals for changing the state pension triple lock, which the Prime Minister has said would eventually generate savings to help fund a National Care Service.
“He’s basically going to deprive pensioners of the triple lock and increase your taxes very significantly,” Tice said.
Burnham has proposed that, from 2030, the state pension would continue to rise each year by at least inflation or 2.5%, while also maintaining its value relative to earnings over time.
Tice also attacked Burnham’s comments about Britain’s future relationship with the EU, accusing the Prime Minister of seeking to move the country towards closer ties with Brussels.
“He wants to create a sort of carnage of socialist chaos, with changes to the voting system,” Tice said.
Asked how Reform would fund its approach to the triple lock, Tice argued that government spending ultimately involved political choices.
“Politics is about choices,” he said.
He pointed to several areas where Reform would seek to reduce spending, including overseas assistance and welfare and housing support for foreign nationals.
“We don’t think it’s a good idea to send £88 million to Hamas in Gaza,” Tice said.
“We don’t think that it’s a good idea to pay ever more tens and tens of billions of pounds for foreign nationals to claim benefits and housing in the UK.”
“We just don’t think it’s a good idea to have mass, low-skilled immigration… We think net zero is a catastrophically stupid idea.”
“If you cut all that out, you save tens and tens and tens and tens of billions of pounds,” he added.
Tice argued that such savings could allow the government to maintain existing pension protections.
“And that way, yes, we can afford to look after our pensioners who’ve worked, they’ve saved, they’ve strived.”
He also sought to frame Burnham’s programme as a return to the economic challenges Britain experienced in the 1970s under Labour governments.
“As Burnham takes us back to the sort of blackout days of the 1970s… It was a really pretty bleak picture,” Tice said.
The remarks underline the competing approaches being offered over public spending, pensions, taxation, energy and Britain’s relationship with Europe, with Reform positioning its agenda around reducing spending and immigration while Burnham has argued for greater public intervention and expanded state provision.
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