Nigel Farage has made his big speech to Reform’s party conference in Birmingham this evening. It was a bravura display which had his army of supporters in raptures.

‘I believe there will be an election next year’, Farage said, demanding a vote and branding Burnham ‘the Messiah without a mandate’. ‘We will fight to win,’ he said.

If he wins power, Farage pledged:

‘We will stop the boats within 100 days of a Reform government. End of.’

Slash benefits spending by £50 billion.

Cut taxes on working people ‘in a radical way’. Cut energy bills by £250 ‘and end the net zero lunacy’.

Stop judges leaning on the European Convention on Human Rights.

Boost NHS training to produce more home-grown nurses and doctors.

‘These aren’t vague empty promises, we believe in jeopardy, we believe in accountability’, he added. Vowing to deliver in Downing Street, he said that if, after 100 days, his cabinet fails to fulfil its promises, ‘I will sack them and replace them with someone with more courage’. He signalled that spokesmen on both health and defence will be appointed soon, plugging key gaps in his frontbench team.

‘Our attitude is can-do. And will do.’

To achieve his goals, Farage vowed to declare a national emergency where ‘all recess of Parliament will be cancelled. ‘Parliament will sit 24 hours a day for six days a week.’ He warned that if the House of Lords tried to stop him he would ‘hold a referendum’ to scrap the Upper House and ‘they will be swept away’. Civil servants who tried to resist ‘will be fired and replaced with business people from outside’.

He denounced the Conservatives for wanting ‘power for its own sake’ and said Labour are ‘set for more failure’. He said the government was ‘leading us to national bankruptcy’ and that ‘national security is not safe’ in Burnham’s hands. He concluded by saying to the crowd: ‘I love you all.’

Reform conference has an air of unreality

Reform is a........

© The Spectator