Reform UK challenges Rachel Reeves to make foreign nationals 'bear the brunt' of £25bn black hole

Europeans will be handed a three-month notice period before their payments end entirely and if Brussels refuses, a trade war could follow.

Reform's Head of Policy Zia Yusuf is announcing proposals to cut Government spending by £25billion, which the party says will eradicate the need to raise any taxes.

Mr Yusuf said: "Labour has a choice. They can either go ahead and raise taxes on British citizens or they can enact our proposals which put British people first and ask foreign nationals to bear the brunt of the black hole, not British citizens.

"Most British people would consider it outrageous to expect British people to pay higher taxes or see their services cut whilst their money is being spent this way."

All foreigners would see their yearly NHS surcharge hiked from £1,035 to £2,718, raising £5billion each year.

Mr Farage has argued that figure is fair because it represents the NHS's cost per person in England, while Mr Yusuf branded it a "great value" deal.

"Why should a foreign national get a 65 per cent discounts? It's great value, somebody can pay more and get vastly more out of the NHS," the party's policy chief will say.

Other proposals include cutting foreign aid to £1billion, which Reform claimed would save about £10billion.

Ending universal credit payments to foreign nationals would save £6billion this year, the party said.

Further proposals include raising the immigration health surcharge from £1,035 a year to £2,718, which it claimed would raise £5billion.

But Mr Farage admitted that the experiences of Reform-run local authorities had shown that bringing change was "difficult", amid expectations they will raise council tax despite cost-saving pledges.

Pressed on whether Reform-led councils should increase council tax by the maximum five per cent they are allowed to without a referendum, the Reform leader said: "We can’t tell them what to do. They are their own living, breathing organisms.

"I would very, very much hope that any council tax rises should be limited to inflation."

Mr Farage insisted that in the run-up to the local elections, he had never promised to freeze or cut council tax "because I realised the massive debts that we were inheriting from those county councils."

He said: "Will we cut debt? Yes. But can we give people a free ticket at this moment in time on council tax? No. And I never, ever thought we will be able to at this stage."

Asked what lessons he has learned from local government, he said: "Getting things to change is hard. I think that’s perhaps the biggest thing that I take from these first few months."

Meanwhile, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch accused Mr Farage of deceiving voters with his suggestion of stripping welfare payments from EU citizens.

She said: "It would be a bad idea because we spent a lot of time negotiating those rights, not just for EU citizens in this country, but British citizens in other countries of the EU.

"You start unpicking that and you start unpicking all of the work that was done, year after year after year, with a lot of pain and effort during those years when we were negotiating Brexit."

Labour Party chairwoman Anna Turley said: "Reform and the Tories can argue all they like about who will return us to austerity faster, the fact is their plans don’t add up and would be a disaster for Britain.

"Nigel Farage is happy to trigger a trade war with Europe, hammering shoppers at the checkouts with higher prices and undoing the work the Labour Government has done to drive prices down through three landmark international trade deals.

"Kemi Badenoch’s plan to bring forward £47billion of cuts would mean money drained out of your local hospital, your child’s school and your local police.

"Families who are still bearing the brunt of Liz Truss’ mortgage-smashing mini-Budget can’t afford to pay the price for more of the same old Tory mistakes.

"Labour’s Budget will take the fair choices to deliver strong foundations for our economy and secure our country’s future, with no return to austerity and no borrowing beyond our means."