Reform UK leader threatens House of Lords referendum

Nigel Farage, leader of Britain’s right-wing populist Reform UK party, has said he would consider holding a referendum on abolishing the House of Lords if the unelected upper chamber obstructs his party’s programme should it win the next general election.

Farage said Reform would seek to deliver a series of major policy changes within its first 100 days in government, including stopping small-boat crossings of the English Channel, cutting annual energy bills by £250 and ending what he called the “net zero lunacy," BBC reports. 

He said his government would declare a “national emergency” to overcome what he described as institutional obstacles to implementing Reform’s programme.

“Parliament will sit, if necessary, for 24 hours a day, for six days a week until we pass the necessary legislation,” Farage said.

He said he expected the House of Lords to “honour” Reform’s election pledges. If it refused, he threatened to appoint hundreds of new peers to give his party a majority in the upper chamber.

“And if that proves difficult, we will hold a referendum on the current composition of the House of Lords, and they would be swept away by a British public appalled by them,” he added.

Farage also warned that Reform would seek changes to the way judges are appointed if the judiciary obstructed the party’s policies. He further threatened to overhaul the civil service, including replacing department heads with figures from the private sector if officials failed to implement the government’s programme.

His speech at Reform UK’s annual conference in Birmingham was interrupted several times by protesters. Farage was also pressed over allegations concerning political donations that emerged from an undercover investigation.

The conference comes after a difficult summer for Reform UK, during which questions over the party’s finances affected its political momentum.

Farage also criticised UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham, arguing that Reform would not need a decade to demonstrate results. He said his government would have 100 days to deliver its programme and promised to dismiss ministers who failed to meet their responsibilities.

By Sabina Mammadli