'Nigel Farage's absence overshadows Reform's headline-grabbing announcements'

It was yet another headline-grabbing announcement from Reform UK. So far this summer, we’ve had: Send the Navy into the Channel to stop small boats, imprison bosses over illegal employment, and now a plan to cut the welfare bill by some £50billion. The first plan was torn apart by the French government who said deploying the Royal Navy in the Channel would be a "violation of French sovereignty" and would break maritime law. The second plan saw Zia Yusuf, Reform’s home affairs spokesman, branded a “pillock” after he said he’ll send CEOs to prison if they hire illegal workers - despite bosses already facing jail terms. Today, Robert Jenrick unveiled plans to slash disability and sickness payments, ban overseas nationals from claiming almost all benefits in the UK and force long-term benefits claimants to clean up their local high streets or lose their support. The proposals already started unravelling before the press conference started, with critics pointing out that the foreign national benefits ban would mean the EU withdrawal agreement would have to be renegotiated, as the ban would include EU nationals. Amnesty International also tore apart the rest of Reform’s benefits plans, saying the proposals would see a “rollback of rights” in the UK. A pattern is emerging with Reform’s summer of press conferences. Flashy pledges - billions of pounds, the might of the Royal Navy, or hefty jail punishments - that appear to fall apart at a closer look. Critics have dismissed the press events as a distraction technique to steer both journalists and the public away from mounting questions about Nigel Farage and Reform UK’s finances. What was most striking at this one was how the careful choreography ensured there was barely a mention of Mr Farage - let alone last week’s Clacton by-election. Usually a political party would want to shout from the rooftops about its victory in a by-election, particularly as it was the party leader who was contesting it. Yet Mr Farage was nowhere to be seen - not a trace of him. He also avoided attending the by-election count in Clacton on Thursday night to accept his victory against Count Binface. In fact, he hasn’t been seen in public since his win - and sources suggest he’s unlikely to be out and about this week. Could the reopening of a standards probe into a £5million gift he received shortly before the 2024 general election have anything to do with it? Ahead of the summer, a Reform source admitted to me that it can’t just be Mr Farage as the face of Reform. “We have to broaden out,” they said. “For 18 months, it’s just been Nigel. But you’ll still get lots of Nigel.” But the trouble for Reform is that vast amounts of the public see Mr Farage and Reform has two sides of the same coin. No amount of headline-grabbing policies or distraction techniques will mean questions about Mr Farage go away.