Nigel Farage still ‘assessing’ what role he will play in general election, says Reform UK leader Richard Tice

Published

2 years ago

January 3, 2024

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Nigel Farage is still “assessing” what role he will play in the upcoming general election, the leader of Reform UK has said.

Holding a news conference to kick off the long campaign for the general election expected this year, Reform UK leader Richard Tice revealed he had been talking to Mr Farage over the festive break about what role he would play.

“We’ve been talking over the Christmas period and he’s obviously giving a lot of thought as to the extent of the role he wants to play in helping Reform UK frankly save Britain,” Mr Tice said.

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“He is still assessing that.

“Nigel is the master of political timing but I’m very clear the job at hand is so big to save Britain, the more help that Nigel is able to give in the election campaign, frankly, the better.”

Mr Farage, who is currently Reform UK’s honorary president, stood down as party leader in 2021, when he was replaced by Mr Tice.

There has been speculation Mr Farage, who founded Reform, could make a political comeback to challenge the Tories over issues including legal and illegal migration.

Mr Tice claimed the Conservatives were “terrified” of the threat his party poses at the ballot box and that they needed a wake-up call because a Labour win – which he branded “Starmergeddon” – would be a “disaster” for Britain economically.

He insisted his party would not do any “deals” with the Tories and would instead stand in every seat, with the party claiming to have already approved 500 candidates who will be unveiled at a rally next month.

Asked by Sky News how he would feel if Labour won a majority because Reform had split the Conservative vote, Mr Tice said: “I would feel pleased that I’ve helped punish the utter failure of the Conservative Party who have broken Britain.

“They must be punished. They must be ousted. You cannot reward failure with more incumbency.”

Pressed on whether he would contemplate doing a deal with the Conservatives after the election if not before, the Reform leader replied: “Let’s see what happens. I’m focusing on before the election, not after.”

What will a good result look like for Reform UK at the general election?

“Winning it”, said the party’s leader Richard Tice. Of course, it’s not going to happen but others in the room said they would be happy with a handful of seats.

However, if current polling is anything to go by, its main contribution will be to split the Conservative vote. That could pave the way for a Labour majority.

For Reform UK, Labour and the Conservatives are “two sides of the same coin”.

It accuses Mr Sunak of “breaking Britain”, while Sir Keir Starmer will “bankrupt Britain”.

It’s presenting itself as the only meaningful alternative to the status quo and has been buoyed by a bounce in the polls.

Mr Tice said the party’s current polling of about 1 % means the Tories “aren’t laughing anymore” but Labour may well be.

It will not be lost on them that the Labour majorities in the Tamworth and mid-Bedfordshire by-elections were smaller than the number of votes cast for Reform UK. In neither seat was Reform able to sufficiently capitalise on Conservative disenchantment. The winner was Labour.

Mr Tice rubbished the suggestion that his party may be an enabler for Labour.

He said he was “optimistic politically”, but the party has struggled to forge an identity for itself beyond being a meeting ground for disaffected Conservative voters.

For all his bluster about winning the election, the party is thin on policy.

Mr Tice said he wanted to boost economic growth and he presented some vague ideas. Chief among them was a plan to raise the personal allowance to £20,000.

It was an entirely unfunded pledge that may remind some of the Liz Truss era.

If today was about presenting Reform UK as more than just an agitator, it didn’t quite do the job.

Mr Tice accused the Conservatives of failing to bring down immigration in what he called a “betrayal” of Brexit voters.

He said there should be a policy of “one in, one out” and that businesses should “stop relying on the sort of cocaine-like addictive drug of cheap, low skilled immigration”.

He also criticised the party for overseeing tax hikes that mean the UK’s tax burden is still on course to reach its highest level since the Second World War by the next election.

Mr Tice said in the news conference that the income tax threshold should to be raised to £20,000, allowing potentially millions to avoid paying tax at all.

The Reform leader told Sky News that he believed his income tax policy would cost around £40bn, depending on how many people were in work.

He said the policy would gift workers a net £30 a week in their pay packets, saying that money could be saved for the policy by scrapping the remaining leg of HS2 after the prime minister cancelled the northern leg last year.

The poll average for Reform currently stands at 9%, behind Labour which is sitting on an average of 42.5%, with the Tories on 25.5%.

The Lib Dems, meanwhile, are polling on average 11% of the vote, according to the Sky News live poll tracker, followed by Reform and the Greens on 5.9% and the SNP on 3.1%.

Conservative Party chair Richard Holden said: “A vote for Reform will only strengthen Labour’s hand – that means a vote for Labour’s £28bn a year spending splurge, driving up taxes for hardworking families.

“The Conservative government is focused on long-term decisions for the country – stopping the boats, driving down inflation and cutting taxes. If voters want real action to deliver a brighter future, the Conservatives are the only choice.”

Politics

Europe’s new chat police: Chat Control legislation nudges forward in the EU

Published

7 hours ago

November 27, 2025

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Europe’s new chat police: Chat Control legislation nudges forward in the EU

Representatives of European Union member states reached an agreement on Wednesday in the Council of the EU to move forward with the controversial “Chat Control” child sexual abuse regulation, which paves the way for new rules targeting abusive child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on messaging apps and other online services.

“Every year, millions of files are shared that depict the sexual abuse of children… This is completely unacceptable. Therefore, I’m glad that the member states have finally agreed on a way forward that includes a number of obligations for providers of communication services,” commented Danish Minister for Justice, Peter Hummelgaard.

The deal, which follows years of division and deadlock among member states and privacy groups, allows the legislative file to move into final talks with the European Parliament on when and how platforms can be required to scan user content for suspected child sexual abuse and grooming.

The existing CSAM framework is set to expire on April 3, 2026, and is on track to be replaced by the new legislation, pending detailed negotiations with European Parliament lawmakers.

EU Chat Control laws: What’s in and what’s out

In its latest draft, the Council maintains the core CSAM framework but modifies how platforms are encouraged to act. Online services would still have to assess how their products can be abused and adopt mitigation measures.

Service providers would also have to cooperate with a newly-established EU Centre on Child Sexual Abuse to support the implementation of the regulation, and face oversight from national authorities if they fall short.

While the latest Council text removes the explicit obligation of mandatory scanning of all private messages, the legal basis for “voluntary” CSAM detection is extended indefinitely. There are also calls for tougher risk obligations for platforms.

A compromise that satisfies neither side

To end the Chat Control stalemate, a team of Danish negotiators in the Council worked to remove the most contentious element: the blanket mandatory scanning requirement. Under previous provisions, end-to-end encrypted services like Signal and WhatsApp would have been required to systematically search users’ messages for illegal material.

Yet, it’s a compromise that leaves both sides feeling shortchanged. Law enforcement officials warn that abusive content will still lurk in the corners of fully encrypted services, while digital rights groups argue that the deal still paves the way for broader monitoring of private communications and potential for mass surveillance, according to a Thusday Politico report.

Lead negotiator and Chair of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs in the European Parliament, Javier Zarzalejos, urged both the Council and Parliament to enter negotiations at once. He stressed the importance of establishing a legislative framework to prevent and combat child sexual abuse online, while respecting encryption.

Law, Government, Europe, Privacy, European Union, Policy — *Source:* *Javier Zarzalejosj*

“I am committed to work with all political groups, the Commission, and member states in the Council in the coming months in order to agree on a legally sound and balanced legislative text that contributes to effectively prevent and combating child sexual abuse online,” he stated.

The Council celebrated the latest efforts to protect children from sexual abuse online; however, former Dutch Member of Parliament Rob Roos lambasted the Council for acting similarly to the “East German era, stripping 450 million EU citizens of their right to privacy.” He warned that Brussels was acting “behind closed doors,” and that “Europe risks sliding into digital authoritarianism.”

Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov pointed out that EU officials were exempt from having their messages monitored. He commented in a post on X, “The EU weaponizes people’s strong emotions about child protection to push mass surveillance and censorship. Their surveillance law proposals conveniently exempted EU officials from having their own messages scanned.”

Privacy on trial in broader global crackdown

The latest movement on Chat Control lands in the middle of a broader global crackdown on privacy tools. European regulators and law‑enforcement agencies have pushed high‑profile cases against crypto privacy projects like Tornado Cash, while US authorities have targeted developers linked to Samurai Wallet over alleged money‑laundering and sanctions violations, thrusting privacy‑preserving software into the crosshairs.

In response, Ethereum co‑founder Vitalik Buterin doubled down on the right to privacy as a core value. He donated 128 ETH each (roughly $760,000) to decentralized messaging projects Session and SimpleX Chat, arguing their importance in “preserving our digital privacy.”

Session president Alexander Linton told Cointelegraph that regulatory and technical developments are “threatening the future of private messaging,” while co-founder Chris McCabe said the challenge was now about raising global awareness.

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