'Makes Liz Truss look reasonable!' Labour Minister takes aim at Nigel Farage's 'unserious' economic pledges: 'Does not add up'

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has declared his plans to hike in the income tax threshold and restore winter fuel payments to pensioners reaffirms his party as the "true party of workers".

Farage also claimed Reform want to "make it easier" for Britons to have children, and would scrap the two-child benefit cap.

Pennycook told the People's Channel that "all of those changes taken together that he announced run into the tens of billions of pounds," specifically highlighting the Institute for Fiscal Studies' assessment that the income tax threshold changes "would cost anything up to £80bn."

Pennycook described the spending levels as making "Liz Truss look reasonable" and dismissed Farage as not being "a prime minister in waiting."

He told GB News: "I don't think Farage adds up. I don't think his party adds up. It's not a serious intervention, from my point of view."

The Housing Minister suggested Farage "has got a talent for a cheap headline" but argued that Reform would now "come under far more scrutiny than they've ever faced."

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:

• 'He's what people want!' Errol and Elon Musk throw weight behind Nigel Farage: 'Showing his mettle'
• 'Listen to me!' Cummings predicts Farage 'could become PM' and sets out Reform's path to victory
• Nigel Farage storms into seven-point lead over Labour in Red Wall as Reform's support surges

He noted that Farage's figures "jumped about in the press conference" and that the Reform leader "admitted they were less than robust himself".

Pennycook predicted that Reform's spending plans would face increased scrutiny, telling GB News that "when costs of that magnitude, up to £80bn for an income tax threshold change proposed glibly yesterday" come under examination, the public would see through the proposals.

He expressed confidence in the British public's judgement, saying: "I've got faith in their good sense and collective wisdom to see through the circus that is Reform."

The Housing Minister suggested that when Reform's plans are "subject to that scrutiny" and "when the British public see and see that level of detail," voters would reject what he characterised as Reform's approach.

When grilled by hosts Eamonn Holmes and Ellie Costello on Labour's "failing" housing targets the Housing Minister claimed: "No, that's wrong, I'm afraid we're not failing on our target. We don't have an annual target of the kind you've just specified.

"We very clearly and deliberately chose, going into the election, a 1.5million homes target over the whole Parliament as part of our plan for change, and that's because we knew we were going to inherit a dire situation when it came to rates of house building as a result of decisions made by the previous Conservative government, including the abolition of mandatory housing targets."

He added: "So, we are in a trough. Numbers are very low right now. We're making changes, including overhauling national planning policy, including the changes we're announcing today, that will feed through.

"But that will see, quite rightly, very significant increases in house building rates towards the final years of the parliament. Because we need to take ourselves out of this trough and step up those rates."