Reform: scrap net zero to fund the NHS

Richard Tice spent this morning fulfilling a role well-known to leaders of smaller parties: defending their vetting procedures amid criticism of unsuitable candidates. The Reform leader was grilled by journalists at a Westminster briefing over the suspension or ditching of at least a dozen election candidates over their social media posts. ‘If you’re going to have a glass on a Friday night, don’t use Twitter,’ Tice told his party’s electoral hopefuls.

The main topic of the briefing was about health and Reform’s plans to redirect net zero funds to improve the NHS. Tice said that his party aims to get the waiting lists down to zero in two years, insisting that ‘it is going to take a bit of extra money but we are not going to give it to bungling NHS bureaucrats’. Reform’s plans will instead require an additional £17 billion in NHS funding annually, with the party estimating that the cost of net zero is about £30 billion a year.