Farage threatens to overhaul Lords and judges to meet his pledges

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Farage threatens to overhaul Lords and judges to meet his pledges
- Published
Nigel Farage has insisted a Reform UK government would deliver where other parties have failed, as he set out his priorities in his annual conference speech.
He said Reform's pledges for its first 100 days in power would include stopping small boat crossings, cutting energy bills by £250 a year and ending the net zero "lunacy".
To eliminate "obstacles" to his plans, Farage said he would declare a "national emergency" and threatened to overhaul the House of Lords and how judges are appointed if they stood in the way.
In a speech interrupted several times by protesters, the Reform leader was also forced to address allegations over donations which emerged in an undercover investigation.
Reform had been hoping to use its annual conference to regain momentum after a difficult summer dominated by questions over the party's finances.
However, the main day of the conference was overshadowed after two senior party officials stepped down and Reform launched an investigation into claims about funding aired during a Channel 4 News report on Thursday evening, which was filmed by Verbatim Investigations, a group founded by journalists from the Centre for Climate Reporting.
In the undercover filming, the two men suggested a way around electoral law to secure foreign donations for the party, one of which would have totalled £500,000.
Farage insisted "the party has done nothing wrong" and "has taken no illegal money", claiming the allegations had been made "because they're scared of us".
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In his speech, which was light on new policy announcements, Farage said the country needed a government "that actually delivers on its promises" and "we're the only people capable of doing it".
He argued the Tories "had 14 years in power and failed absolutely miserably", while Labour's new Prime Minister Andy Burnham "says he needs 10 years", a reference to the PM's promise to set out a 10-year plan for the country later this year.
If Reform wins the next general election, Farage pledged to sack ministers who fail to deliver on their promises in their first 100 days in the job "and replace them with somebody else with the courage to do it".
Setting out his plans to call a "national emergency" if Reform wins power, Farage said: "Parliament will sit, if necessary, for 24 hours a day, for six days a week until we pass the necessary legislation."
He said he expected the House of Lords to "honour" Reform's policy pledges but if they refused to do so threatened to appoint hundreds of new peers so the party had a majority in the upper chamber.
"And if that proves difficult, we will hold a referendum on the current composition of the House of Lords, and they would be swept away by a British public appalled by them," he added.
Identifying the judiciary as another possible "obstacle", Farage promised to remove the ability of judges to rely on conventions like the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR), which critics blame for hindering some deportations.
"We don't want the courts striking down, do we, the will of the people," he said.
"Parliament makes the law, judges interpret the law. We will do whatever it takes, and perhaps have to consider how judicial appointments work in the future."
Meanwhile, he said civil servants who "try to obstruct us" would be removed from their posts and replaced by people from the world of business.
"I'm tired of being told what can't be done," the Reform leader said.
"That is not what the public want. The public want action, the public want genuine change, the public do not want any more of the same. And our attitude is can do, and will do."
Predicting that Burnham would call an early general election in spring 2027, Farage attempted to use his speech to convince the public Reform was ready to govern.
Stressing he now had a team of spokespeople with "frontline experience", he said the party was planning to broaden its expertise.
"There are more big jobs to fill, and I'm looking and working on defence, health, and the other areas," he added.
In his speech, Farage also hailed a "historic agreement" on small boat returns, signed earlier between Reform and France's hard-right National Rally party.
The deal sets out how a Reform government would intercept boats in the English Channel and return them to France using the Navy, with France "ordinarily" accepting those on board.
It was signed by the National Rally President Jordan Bardella, whose party is currently leading in opinion polls ahead of French presidential elections in April next year, after he gave a speech to the main conference hall.
Farage took to the stage after a long delay, which he told delegates was due to a "security alert".
He took the opportunity to walk through the crowd and greet delegates during the delay.
His speech was also interrupted several times by protesters, including two women who held up a banner reading "Reform works for billionaires".
They were booed by audience members who shouted "out", as they were removed by security.
Farage laughed off the disruption, chanting "boring, boring, boring".
Reform is no longer consistently topping national opinion polls, after more than a year of enjoying a comfortable lead.
Meanwhile, Labour's ratings have risen since Burnham entered Downing Street, and Reform has lost some support to Restore Britain, the new right-wing party founded by former Reform MP Rupert Lowe.
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