Reform UK leader Nigel Farage addresses Wigan residents ahead of the May 7 local elections
Ahead of the local elections on May 7, we offered the leaders of each of the main parties standing in Wigan the chance to tell us about themselves. Today we have Reform UK leader Nigel Farage.
Britain is broken.
As someone who loves their country, that is not something I say lightly.
But it is undoubtedly true.
Of all the complaints I’ve heard travelling from town to town over the past 18 months, there is one phrase I hear over and over: Nothing seems to be working anymore.
Nowhere is that sentiment felt more strongly than at local council level.
Just look around you: bins are overflowing, schools are struggling and our roads are pockmarked with potholes.
Meanwhile, our neighbourhoods are over-run with crime.
Yet despite all this, council tax bills continue to go up.
In Wigan, council tax has increased by almost 25 per cent in the past five years.
It's not hard to see why.
Wigan’s chief executive officer earns more than £205,000 a year - that’s more than the Prime Minister - to oversee this mess.
Thanks to Labour’s maladministration, Wigan Council has run up more than £400m worth of debt.
That’s costing over £15m a year just in interest - which is the equivalent of £41,000 a day.
On top of that, Wigan Council has failed to challenge Serco’s use of 300 properties in the borough to house asylum seekers, while more than 10,000 people are on the social housing waiting list in Wigan.
And violent crime is everywhere - there were over 13,600 incidents in Wigan over the past year.
It really doesn't have to be this way.
Last year, Reform UK won hundreds of council seats and already we’re seeing the positive impact the party is having in those areas.
Which is why I am embarking on a national tour to let voters know how you can fix this country.
Because we can't do this without you. We urgently need your help.
Just remember: Labour, the Conservatives and the Lib Dems tried to stop these local elections happening.
They wanted them cancelled because they know that voters are desperate to give them a kicking.
So now is your chance to do so.
Let’s send Starmer and the rest of the Westminster establishment a clear message.
The turquoise tsunami is coming.