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9. Banning flags… then unbanning them Farage announced that only Union Jacks and St George’s crosses could be flown from Reform-led council buildings. But that meant prohibiting county flags. He changed his mind to allow them, too.

8. Getting rid of MSPs Farage once wanted to scrap all MSPs and fill Holyrood with MPs instead. Later he said, “We’re not going to reverse devolution.”

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7. Sexually confused In a live debate in 2014, Farage said Ukip wouldn’t scrap sex education. But the party’s website at the time called for abolishing sex ed for under-11s.

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6. Small boats in two weeks Farage promised to stop the boats within a fortnight of becoming PM. But after the first bit of scrutiny he changed his story, admitting it’d only happen after the necessary laws had passed.

5. Who owns Nigel’s house? First he said he bought his Clacton home. Then he said his girlfriend did. Wouldn’t have been so bad if he hadn’t just attacked Angela Rayner.

4. Another U-turn on a U-turn In 2015, Ukip had a policy of capping net migration at 50,000. Then Farage scrapped the plan. But weeks later he changed his mind again, setting a new target of 30,000.

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3. U-turn on a U-turn Farage claimed he’d send Afghan women back to the Taliban. Then he rowed back, saying it wouldn’t happen in his first term. But before long he flip-flopped again, confirming he’d let the deportations go ahead.

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2. “Which one of you is lying?” Farage claimed he was told not to meet constituents face-to-face in Clacton. But when Parliament’s security service disputed that, he quickly dropped his claim.

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1. Second referendum Before the Brexit vote, Farage said he wanted a re-run if the result was close. He told the Mirror: “In a 52-48 referendum this would be unfinished business by a long way.” But after Leave won, he said he’d boycott a second vote.

Sebastian Salek @sebastiansalek.com · 27/08/2025

4. Crypto Reform’s biggest donor by far is Christopher Harborne. He's a crypto investor. Reform wants to cut crypto capital gains tax from 24% to 10%. Coincidence?

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Sebastian Salek @sebastiansalek.com · 27/08/2025

2. Tax havens Over half of Reform's funding comes from donors with offshore homes or businesses. Their treasurer openly admits this is his fundraising strategy. No wonder Reform wants to slash taxes for non-doms.

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Sebastian Salek @sebastiansalek.com · 27/08/2025

1. Net zero 40% of Reform’s donors either question climate change or invest in fossil fuels. They include Jeremy Hosking, who has tens of millions invested in oil firms. Which explains why Reform is so passionately anti net zero.

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Sebastian Salek @sebastiansalek.com · 22/08/2025

Longer clip here if you fancy. Was it just me, or did the presenter not realise the Supreme Court ruled the Rwanda scheme unlawful?

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Sebastian Salek @sebastiansalek.com · 22/08/2025

You know you’ve won when your opponent gives up and just starts reading out insults.

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The Tories have zero credibility left on small boats. Chris Philp can make all the videos he wants. Everyone is asking the same question: “You had a decade to solve this. So why didn’t you?”

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5. Reform are anti-parents. Alongside the Tories, they tried to wreck a bill introducing free breakfast clubs and limiting the number of expensive branded items in school uniforms. Farage called the bill “socialist dogma”.

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4. Reform are anti-small business. They voted against cutting taxes for high-street shops by hiking business rates on Amazon warehouses and other big commercial properties.

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3. Reform are anti-children’s safety. Farage has pledged to scrap a law which: • Requires social media sites to protect children • Makes cyber-flashing a criminal offence • Outlaws AI deep fake porn

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2. Reform are anti-renters. They tried to block: • Banning no-fault evictions • Making bidding wars illegal • Limiting rent increases to once a year

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Sebastian Salek @sebastiansalek.com · 12/08/2025

1. Reform are anti-workers. The party’s MPs voted against: • Banning zero hours contracts • Sick pay and unfair dismissal rights from day one • Making ‘fire and rehire’ illegal

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Britain is the safest it’s been in decades. The data backs it up. But sadly, pretend patriots like Farage and Jenrick only ever talk our country down.

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Sebastian Salek @sebastiansalek.com · 07/08/2025

Labour’s migrant deal is basically a startup. So if it doesn’t work perfectly first time, that’s OK. The real test is whether they keep iterating until it does.

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Sebastian Salek @sebastiansalek.com · 06/08/2025

Busy day out of the office, chatting to: • Jeremy Vine on Radio 2 at 12pm • Jacob Rees-Mogg on GB News at 8pm Talking about how Rachel Reeves can fix the awful mess the Tories left our country in, among other things.

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Sebastian Salek @sebastiansalek.com · 17/07/2025

“That’s *extremely* patronising” Young people are sick of being talked down to. Our country is a better place when 16 and 17-year-olds have a say in their future!

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Sebastian Salek @sebastiansalek.com · 16/07/2025

The Telegraph is no longer a newspaper. It’s a Labour attack unit. A hit job every hour, like clockwork. Tell me you’re rattled without telling me you’re rattled.

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Folks, I’m sorry to tell you. It’s Kwasi Kwarteng. So no need to liquidate your pension and hide it under your pillow. But maybe let’s stick to more balanced sources for our economic news.

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It’s Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride! So THAT’s why we’re comparing everything to 1967, rather than the last Tory government. And if that weren’t bad enough, GB News quoted another ‘expert’.

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The government is currently borrowing 5.1% of everything it spends. Sure, that’s higher than 4% in 1967. But why not mention that the OBR forecasts a drop to *2%* by the end of the decade? And even junior economists could tell you what GB News got wrong about gilt yields.

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GB News is correct about one thing. Government debt is equal to 96.4% of GDP. But that’s not new. It’s been at that level for half a decade, and peaked at 99.1% under the Tories. And I *wish* that were the most misleading thing about this story.

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First red flag: they’re comparing today’s economy to… 1967(?!?!) Why the Harold Wilson era? Probably because when you look at more recent data, their whole argument crumbles.

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Sebastian Salek @sebastiansalek.com · 14/07/2025

Experts are warning the economy is about to implode! Well, that’s what GB news wants you to think. It’s a masterclass in cherrypicking and scaremongering. Let’s reveal the truth together… 🧵

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There’s a VERY good reason asylum seekers get circus tickets and Amazon parcels. But the Mail on Sunday was never going to tell you that. Here’s the crucial detail they left out: 🧵

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Sebastian Salek @sebastiansalek.com · 11/07/2025

1.⁠ ⁠Letting local people save community spaces A new Community Right to Buy gives residents the chance to take over pubs, cafes, or sports centres before developers can buy them. A great example of Co-operative Party ideas taking the fight to Reform.

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Sebastian Salek @sebastiansalek.com · 09/07/2025

In reality, things have been relatively calm this year. The spread on the UK-US 30 year yield is about 50 basis points. The widest I can find is a whopping 113 basis points. I’ll give you one guess when that was. Yep, the day of the mini budget.

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Sebastian Salek @sebastiansalek.com · 09/07/2025

Lots of things affect bond prices. Sometimes it’s a domestic issue, sometimes it’s global. Right wingers are desperately trying to argue this move is domestic – that investors are worried about the UK economy. Fortunately, there’s an easy way to check.

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Sebastian Salek @sebastiansalek.com · 09/07/2025

Yields hitting Truss levels does NOT mean the economy is crashing. Anyone who says this doesn’t understand economics. I covered this stuff for years at Bloomberg. Quick explainer that a child could understand: 🧵

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5. Services sector rebounding Activity rose at the fastest rate in 10 months, according to S&P. The company said it was “indicative of a solid rate of business activity expansion.”

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3. Consumer confidence jumping According to KPMG: • 70% are confident enough to plan a summer holiday • 58% feel financially secure (+3) • 17% are confident the economy is improving (+7)

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2. Business confidence at 9-year high The Lloyds Bank Business Barometer rose to 51%, the highest since November 2015. That follows an *11-point leap* in May.

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