Reform by-election candidate described Nigel Farage’s economic plans as ‘utterly toxic combination’

Exclusive: It comes after The Independent revealed that Matt Goodwin called for ‘young girls’ to be given ‘biological reality’ check NewsUKUK PoliticsReform by-election candidate described Nigel Farage’s economic plans as ‘utterly toxic combination’Exclusive: It comes after The Independent revealed that Matt Goodwin called for ‘young girls’ to be given ‘biological reality’ checkKate Devlin Whitehall Editor Sunday 15 February 2026 16:07 GMTBookmarkCommentsGo to commentsBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popoverDisdain for Labour unites Gorton and Denton ahead of crucial by-electionYour support helps us to tell the storyRead moreSupport NowFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.Read moreThe Reform candidate in an upcoming Westminster by-election once described his party’s economic plans as an “utterly toxic combination”. Matt Goodwin said that he “cannot stress enough how UNPOPULAR slashing taxes and cutting spending on public services is” in a post on LinkedIn three years ago. The former academic was pointing to polling from the highly-respected British Social Attitudes survey that showed that reducing both was backed by just 6 per cent of the public as he denounced it as an “utterly toxic combination”. In November, Nigel Farage said his party “will cut spending” and “we want to cut taxes”. Last month he doubled down, saying: “We are going to reduce excessive government spending”. open image in galleryReform UK leader Nigel Farage with his party’s candidate in th Gorton and Denton by-election candidate Matt Goodwin (front right) (Danny Lawson/PA Wire)Mr Goodwin hit the headlines last week after The Independent revealed he had called for women and young girls to be given a “biological reality” check as he warned of an impending “fertility crisis”. This publication also revealed that he had previously suggested people who don’t have children should be taxed extra as punishment and warned that “many women in Britain are having children much too late in life”.The polling cited by Mr Goodwin, who is standing for Reform UK in the Gorton and Denton by-election at the end of this month, also showed more than 50 per cent of the public wanted taxes and spending to increase, while 40 per cent wanted them to remain the same. open image in galleryA Reform UK supporter holding a placard at the party’s Gorton and Denton by-election headquarters in Denton. (Danny Lawson/PA) (PA Wire)In a speech last year, Mr Farage said “substantial tax cuts” were not realistic at the current moment “given the dire state” of the country’s finances but said that his party would raise the threshold at which workers start to pay tax and scrap Labour’s ‘family farm’ inheritance tax changes. However, he rowed back from his party’s 2024 election promise to cut £90bn of taxes, which the leading economic think tank the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said Reform had failed to set out how they would achieve. Last month Mr Farage also told an event in Davos that he thought “the one big lesson of the Liz Truss- Kwasi Kwarteng Budget is that they did not propose to cut spending. So for our programme to work, what we absolutely have to tell people that we are going to reduce welfare spending, we are going to reduce excessive government spending.” A Labour party spokesperson said: “Matt Goodwin’s comments show that it’s not just Labour saying Reform’s economic plans are ludicrous – their own candidate thinks so too. “Reform UK offers nothing but a return to austerity, enacted by a party stuffed full of the same Tories that broke our public services in the first place.”A Reform spokesman told The Independent: “Labour’s campaign in Gorton and Denton truly must be on the ropes if they have had to resort to polling analysis by Matt from three years ago when the economy was in a much different place.“We will take no lectures from a party under whose watch the economy has tanked. By voting Reform the voters of Gorton and Denton can get Keir Starmer out and help bring an end to this failed Labour government.”More aboutNigel Farageby-electionLabour PartyJoin our commenting forumJoin thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their repliesCommentsMost popularPopular videosBulletinRead next