Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, has pledged that military reservists would pay no tax on their service earnings if his party forms the next government. The proposal aims to boost recruitment for the Army, Navy, and RAF reserves, who serve in their spare time.
Farage announced the policy at a rally in Plymouth, highlighting a significant recruitment problem within Britain's Armed Forces and the underappreciation of reserve forces. "We rely on reservists at all levels, and there's currently a recruitment problem getting people to sign up," he stated. Reform UK plans to incentivize individuals to join by ensuring that all pay received for reservist service is tax-free. This aligns with a previous Reform UK announcement that overtime pay would be tax-exempt, treating reservist hours as overtime.
Reservists typically serve on evenings and weekends, with a minimum annual commitment of 27 days. Pay varies by role, with new recruits earning approximately £63 per day and Sergeants around £106 per day. Additionally, reservists who meet their training commitments receive a tax-free bonus, starting at about £558 in the first year for basic commitment levels. For instance, a new recruit fulfilling their 27 days of service could earn around £2,200 annually, while a Sergeant could earn up to £5,100.
This announcement follows a pledge made by the Conservative Party in June to make the first 30 days of a reservist's service per financial year tax-free, aiming to increase the number of part-time service members to 50,000 from the current approximately 32,000.
In related news, Farage indicated a potential reactivation of the 'bad boys of Brexit' movement. He revealed that he has been in discussions with Arron Banks, a significant donor to the Leave campaign, and they plan to meet soon. Farage suggested that the group might need to rebrand from its previous iteration, Leave.EU. This comes as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak faced accusations of betrayal after outlining plans to re-evaluate the UK's post-Brexit relationship with the European Union, including potentially rejoining the single market or customs union.