LONDON

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage claimed on Monday that Britain has been "living under an illusion" about the state of its economy, accusing successive governments of failing to face up the country's “economic mess.”

Speaking in the City of London on Monday, far-right leader Farage said another depressing budget was approaching, saying that it would lack the courage to cut public spending.

“I think for some years we’ve actually been living under an illusion. We’ve not been prepared to face up to just how much of an economic mess we genuinely in,” he said.

“As we slipped down the global league tables, we kid ourselves that it’s OK, we’ve got GDP growth. But there wouldn’t have been any GDP growth over the course of the last few years if it wasn’t for mass migration on a scale hitherto never even contemplated.”

He claimed the opportunity of Brexit had been “squandered,” arguing that the UK's regulatory environment had become worse than before the 2016 referendum.

“Brexit has been squandered. The opportunity to sensibly deregulate, the opportunity to become competitive globally – all of that has been squandered,” he said. “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.”

He said the economy had only appeared to be growing because of immigration and argued that “on an individual basis, mass migration has made the average Britain poorer.”

Farage said wealthy people were leaving the UK, likening it to a “wealth drain” similar to the “brain drain” of the 1970s.

“So let me make it clear. I want as many high-earning people as possible living in this country, paying as much tax as they legally have to. Because if the rich leave and the rich don’t pay tax, then the poorer in society we’ll all have to pay more tax. It’s as simple as that. What we’re doing is crazy and we need those people back,” he said.

The rightwing leader suggested that minimum wage may be “too high” for younger workers, saying: “There’s an argument the minimum wage is too high for younger workers.”

He also revealed he was abandoning plans for tax cuts that had been a central part of Reform UK’s previous manifesto and refused to commit to maintaining the pensions triple lock. The triple lock means the rise will either match the rate of inflation, average earnings or 2.5% – whichever is highest.