3) Freeze on ‘non-essential’ immigration
Farage has long pitched himself as an anti-immigration populist, and the first pages of Reform’s manifesto are given over to bold pledges on migration.
Most eye-catchingly, Reform’s document promises to “freeze non-essential immigration” to the U.K.
It says “essential skills, mainly around healthcare must be the only exception” — but does not go into any further detail on how this would operate. Farage has previously defined “non-essential immigration” as meaning “unskilled labor.”
Reform also calls for a new “employer immigration tax,” which would see the National Insurance employer-paid levy hiked to 20 percent for foreign workers, with limited exemptions for health workers and the smallest businesses.
It could be a vote-winner. But employers outside of the National Health Service that rely on overseas labor, such as the already-Brexit-hit hospitality sector, are unlikely to be overjoyed at that one.
4) Rip up Britain’s net zero pledges
In the past, Farage has called for a referendum on Britain’s net-zero plan to slash carbon emissions by 2050. That isn’t in his manifesto.
