‘Mad experiment’: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer launches stunning attack on Reform leader Nigel Farage

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has called Nigel Farage a ‘mad experiment’ in a scathing speech about the Reform party leader.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has launched an extraordinary attack on Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and said he’s on a “mad experiment” that involves “billions upon billions of completely unfunded spending”.

During a visit to an industrial factory in northwest England on Thursday morning (Thursday evening AEST), Sir Keir gave a scathing speech about Mr Farage and his party’s plans, labelling him “Liz Truss all over again” and being fiscally irresponsible.

“Now in opposition we said she (Ms Truss) would crash the economy and leave you to pick up the bill and we were right,” he said.

“We were elected to fix that mess, now in government we’re once again fighting that same fantasy”.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has launched an extraordinary attack on Reform UK leader Nigel Farage. (James Speakman/PA via AP).

Mr Farage posted on X shortly after Sir Keir delivered his scathing attack and said: “The Prime Minister is resorting to dirty tricks from the 2016 referendum campaign to attack me.

“This is Project Fear 2.0”.

The Prime Minister is resorting to dirty tricks borrowed from the 2016 referendum campaign to attack me.

This is Project Fear 2.0.https://t.co/tERXbPW5sQ

— Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) May 29, 2025

Reform UK has just five seats in the House of Commons compared to Labour with 403 seats and the Conservative Party with 120 seats.

Earlier in the week Mr Farage declared he would reverse the government’s decision to cut winter fuel payments in the UK for pensioners and also lift the two-child benefit cap.

Both policies have been described as being left-wing policies that Mr Farage is now moving in on in a bid to win over Labour voters.

Liz Truss’s fantasy economics crashed the economy. My Government was elected to fix the mess.

Now Nigel Farage wants to repeat her mistake.

You can’t trust him with your job, your mortgage, your pension, your bills, or your future.

— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) May 29, 2025

Sir Keir was asked if he sees Reform UK as a bigger threat to his government than the Conservative Party.

He said the Conservatives, led by Kemi Badenoch, “has run out of road” and Mr Farage’s plans were merely a “mad experiment”.

“They’re in decline, they’re sliding into the abyss,” Sir Keir said.

“The choice at the moment is between the choice of a Labour Government that thinks that stable finances are at the heart of building better lives for working people.

“Or Nigel Farage and Reform who only this week said that would be billions upon billions upon billions...tens of billions of pounds in an unfunded way which is the exact repeat of what Liz Truss did”.

Mr Farage declared he would reverse the government’s decision to cut winter fuel payments in the UK for pensioners and also lift the two-child benefit cap. Picture: Getty Images

Sir Keir said Mr Farage and Reform try to “divide people with a toxic divide and poison our politics”.

Ms Truss, who was PM for just 49 days in 2022, caused financial mayhem after she proposed tax cuts and billions of dollars of spending that frightened the financial markets in the UK.

The next general election in the UK is due to be held in 2029 and one British TV commentator described Sir Keir’s speech as being something that would normally be given at the “tail end of an election campaign”.

Mr Farage said some of the ways he would pay for his policies would include ditching the UK’s net zero policy target by 2050.

A recent Ipsos poll showed that Reform UK was now viewed by British voters as the opposition to the Labour government.

The survey found 37 per cent of respondents said it was the main opposition party, ahead of the Conservatives at 33 per cent.

In the UK’s recent council elections Reform UK won 677 seats - the biggest gain of any party - while the major parties had big losses including the Conservatives who lost 675 seats, Labour lost 189 seats, while the Liberal Democrats gained 163 seats.

Originally published as ‘Mad experiment’: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer launches stunning attack on Reform leader Nigel Farage