The chancellor has claimed Reform UK is “tough on workers, tough on patients but soft on Putin”.
Delivering a speech to the GMB union conference in Brighton on Tuesday, Rachel Reeves said that Nigel Farage is “not on the side of the heroic people of Ukraine”.
The attack came as the chancellor unveiled a £14.2 billion investment to build the new Sizewell C nuclear plant in Suffolk, as part of a wider package of more than £30 billion for the UK’s nuclear industry to be detailed in the spending review tomorrow.
Reeves hailed the investment as the launch of a “new era of nuclear power”, arguing that the UK must become “more self-sufficient” in its energy supply.
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“We promised investment in every part of Britain and that is what I will deliver tomorrow”, the chancellor said. “Taken together tomorrow’s spending review sets out over £30 billion of investment in Britain’s nuclear-powered future.”
Reeves also used the speech to set out her attack lines ahead of Wednesday’s Spending Review.
“While Labour is levelling up workers’ rights, Nigel Farage and Reform opposed the Employment Rights Bill. While Labour is investing in our NHS, Nigel Farage and Reform want to privatise our NHS”, she said.
“And while Labour is investing in security for our nation and for our allies, Nigel Farage and Reform are not on the side of the heroic people of Ukraine, they are on Russia’s side instead.”
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Farage’s past comments suggesting Nato and EU expansion “provoked” the war in Ukraine have been a frequent target for political rivals.
The Labour Party in particular has sought to capitalise on Reform UK’s position on workers rights and the National Health Service. Farage’s party voted against the government’s Employment Rights Bill earlier this year.
The Reform leader’s historic comments on the health service are referenced frequently by Labour spokespeople. In 2012, Farage said Britain will need to “think about health care very, very differently”.
Speaking on his “common sense tour” of Britain as leader of the UK Independence Party (Ukip), Farage stated: “I think we are going to have to move to an insurance-based system of health care.”
He added: “Frankly, I would feel more comfortable that my money would return value if I was able to do that through the market place of an insurance company than just us trustingly giving £100 billion a year to central government and expecting them to organise the healthcare service from cradle to grave for us.”
In an interview with LBC Radio earlier this year, Farage suggested he was “open to anything” when it comes to reforming the NHS.
Asked further if he would be open to moving to a “French style insurance model for the NHS”, the Clacton MP responded: “I mean the French have a mutual system where you pay in to effectively an insurance scheme.”
Farage added: “Now you know, I’m not saying we should absolutely mimic the French system, but let’s have a much deeper, broader thing.”
Looking ahead to the spending review, Reeves acknowledged that the benefits of the government’s economic programme are not yet being widely felt. The review is expected to set out real-terms funding cuts for numerous Whitehall departments.
“I know that not enough working people are yet feeling that progress”, she said. “This government is going for growth because that is the best way to create jobs, boost wages, lift people out of poverty, and sustainably fund our schools and our hospitals and all the public services we rely on.”
She went on to draw a clear distinction with the previous Conservative administration, adding: “Unlike the Tories, I don’t think that the only good thing that a government can do is get out of the way.”
In further comments addressing the Conservative Party, Reeves said she recognised “how difficult the last few years has been for many members.”
She added: “Working people paid the price for the Tories’ failure.”
Josh Self is Editor of Politics.co.uk, follow him on Bluesky here.
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