Farage threatens to overhaul the Lords and judiciary to deliver Reform UK pledges

Nigel Farage used Reform UK’s annual conference speech to promise that his party would deliver where other governments had failed, while warning that he would confront Parliament and the courts if they blocked his agenda.

Reform’s proposed first 100 days in government would include stopping small-boat crossings, cutting annual energy bills by £250 and ending what Farage called net zero “lunacy”. He said the party would declare a “national emergency” to remove obstacles to those plans, with Parliament sitting for as long as necessary to pass the required legislation.

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

Farage said he expected the House of Lords to respect Reform’s election pledges. If it refused, he threatened to appoint hundreds of new peers to create a Reform majority in the upper chamber. He also suggested holding a referendum on the Lords’ current composition, saying the chamber could be rejected by voters.

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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 identified the judiciary as another possible obstacle. Farage promised to remove judges’ ability to rely on conventions such as the European Convention on Human Rights, which critics blame for hindering some deportations. “Parliament makes the law, judges interpret the law. We will do whatever it takes,” he said.

The speech was repeatedly interrupted by protesters and took place as the party faced renewed scrutiny over its finances. Two senior officials had stepped down, and Reform opened an investigation into funding allegations broadcast by Channel 4 News. Farage said the party had done nothing wrong and had accepted no illegal money. He described the claims as part of a coordinated campaign because opponents were afraid of Reform.

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Parliament makes the law, judges interpret the law. We will do whatever it takes.

Farage also promised to dismiss ministers who failed to deliver their pledges in their first 100 days. He attacked the Conservatives’ 14 years in office and criticised Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s stated need for 10 years to set out a national plan.

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The party has done nothing wrong and has taken no illegal money.