Nigel Farage predicts date Keir Starmer will be forced to call early election

Nigel Farage predicted that Sir Keir Starmer will be forced to call a general election two years early. The Reform UK leader said he believed there would be another ballot "caused by economic collapse" in 2027, rather than 2029.

Speaking at a press conference at Banking Hall in the City of London, he said: "The markets are getting nervy. We've seen this with 10 and 30-year gilt yields. In fact, I think my own view is that in two budgets' time, the markets will actually force the Chancellor into what will be a genuine austerity budget, at which point the Left in the Labour Party won't buy it.

"And it's why I still stand by my prediction that there will be a general election, caused by economic collapse that will happen in 2027."

Elsewhere during the press conference, Mr Farage pledged that Reform would lead the "most pro-business" government in modern history.

He promised sweeping deregulation as he warned that the UK had "squandered" Brexit.

Mr Farage said: "One of my own great frustrations is that Brexit has been squandered. The opportunity to sensibly deregulate, the opportunity to become competitive globally, all of that has been squandered.

"And the worst thing is that regulations and the way regulators behave with British business is now worse than it was at the time of the Brexit referendum vote."

But he warned that major tax cuts were "not realistic at this current moment in time".

The Clacton MP said: "We want to cut taxes, of course we do, but we understand substantial tax cuts given the dire state of debt and our finances are not realistic at this current moment in time.

"There are some relatively modest things we would do: We would immediately remove IHT from family farms and from family-run businesses, and we will raise the thresholds at which people start to pay tax to begin the process of getting people out of the 16-hour a week working debt trap that so many people find themselves in."

A Labor spokesperson said: "Nigel Farage has promised a return to damaging austerity, taking an axe to public services, with no cuts off the table. He complained the minimum wage is too high for young workers, while doubling down on his golden giveaway to foreign billionaires.

"Reform would slash the NHS, schools, and pensions - and cancel Labour's investment in local roads, rail, and clean energy, putting millions of jobs at risk and wreaking havoc on family finances."