'Britain is broken - and violent crime is everywhere' - Reform UK leader Nigel Farage
The Yorkshire Evening Post has asked major political parties for their manifesto in the run up to the Local Election in Leeds. Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, tells us the party’s priorities for the city.
Britain is broken.
As someone who loves their country, that is not something I say lightly. But it is undoubtedly true.
Of all the complaints I’ve heard travelling from town to town over the past 18 months, there is one phrase I hear over and over: Nothing seems to work anymore.
Nowhere is that sentiment felt more strongly than at local council level.
Just look around you: Bins are overflowing, schools are struggling and our roads are pockmarked with potholes.
Meanwhile, our neighbourhoods are over-run with crime.
Yet despite all this, council tax bills continue to go up.
In Leeds, council tax has increased by over 25 per cent in the past five years. It's not hard to see why.
Leeds City Council’s CEO earns nearly £200,000 a year - more than the Prime Minister - to oversee this mess. That’s along with another twenty five members of staff on salaries of over £100,000.
Thanks to Labour's maladministration, the City Council has run up £2.6 billion worth of debt, that’s the second-highest local authority debt in the entire UK. That’s costing over £97 million a year just in interest - the equivalent of a staggering £266,000 a day.
But then are you that surprised when the council is spending £475,000 just on translators and in 2023 somehow spent nearly £6 million on a year of culture 'vanity project'?
If that wasn’t bad enough, an overspend of £29.2 million is forecast by the end of the financial year.
And just look at the state of the roads. By our calculations, there are roughly eight potholes for every mile of road in Leeds.
Violent crime is everywhere - there were over 38,000 incidents in Leeds over the past year.
It really doesn't have to be this way.
Last year, Reform UK won hundreds of council seats and already we’re seeing the positive impact the party is having in those areas. Which is why I am embarking on a national tour to let voters know how you can fix this country.
Because we can't do this without you. We urgently need your help.
Just remember: Labour, the Conservatives and the Lib Dems tried to stop these local elections happening.
They wanted them cancelled because they know that voters are desperate to give them a kicking.
So now is your chance to do so.
Let’s send Starmer and the rest of the Westminster establishment a clear message: The turquoise tsunami is coming.