Nigel Farage is notorious for hardly ever showing up to Parliament. He’s also controversial for the £5m ‘gift’ which he received forunclear reasons. Despite this, he’s now decided Britain has a problematic ‘something for nothing’ culture:
Farage should be forced to prove a full 40 hour working week as MP for Clacton. https://t.co/LEkYV2L7SM
— Sam (@SamCKx) August 18, 2026
Absenteeism from Farage
As we’ve covered, Reform’s plan to make long-term unemployed people do free community service is just performative cruelty. It’s also not going to realise any of the benefits they claim to have in mind.
Farage, of course, is a particularly odd person to be calling out ‘something for nothing culture’. Since he was first elected as an MP in 2024:
- There have been 575 votes.
- Farage bothered to show up for 173.
- This means his attendance rate is 30%.
A 30% attendance rate is like if you only showed up to work 1.5 days a week. Sounds a lot like ‘something for nothing’ Britain to us.
Notoriously, Farage also decided he wouldn’t attend GP surgeries in his Clacton constituency. Farage claimed the Speaker’s Office advised him not to for safety reasons; the Speaker’s Office would later deny telling him such a thing. As Sky News reported in September 2024:
The MP had said he is not holding in-person surgeries in his constituency over fears the public will “flow through the door with knives in their pockets”.
Farage really does have a low opinion of Britons, doesn’t he? Clearly, he thinks we’re all violent layabouts, and yet he’s also notorious for swanning off to the US at every opportunity to hang out with Donald Trump – the world’s most notorious violent layabout. Trump is so lazy, in fact, that there’s a website dedicated to tracking his presidential golf trips. According to that site, Trump is nearly as workshy as Farage:
Donald Trump has golfed 125 days out of 577 days since returning to office (21.7% of the presidency spent golfing).
In terms of violence, Trump’s pointless war on Iran is set to make us all poorer, and that will of course lead to fewer jobs. Maybe Farage should be having a word with his mate instead of insulting the British public?
Pushback
Reform politicians are already facing significant pushback relating to the Making Welfare Work policy, which is set to abolish Personal Independence Payments (PIP):
You can see the exact moment that Reform politician Laila Cunningham realises that she’s going to spend the next few years defending a policy that will hurt vulnerable people https://t.co/okm21FuK1L
— Larry the Cat (@Number10cat) August 17, 2026
Robert Jenrick and Jeremy Kyle resorted to telling lies to quiet down the critics. As Mukhtar reported:
A Reform supporter called in and said that his family would not vote for Reform because his wife is on PIP. She has been through hell trying to get it, and he isn’t willing to take the risk of her losing it under a Reform government.
Jeremy Kyle then interrupted him and falsely claimed that hundreds of thousands of people are fraudulently claiming PIP.
This is a lie. PIP has one of the lowest fraud rates among benefits, at around 0.2%.
This is the full clip and obviously Robert Jenrick also lies. https://t.co/iApvlJxgLC pic.twitter.com/PzFKEevRuo
— Mukhtar (@I_amMukhtar) August 18, 2026
Reform is also facing pushback from its own councillors:
BREAKING
Reform councillor quits Reform saying that Reform’s new welfare policies will cost lives pic.twitter.com/5Wa9If4iaX
— Harry Eccles (@Heccles94) August 18, 2026
As we’ve reported in the past, many Reform councillors have complained that they lack independence. Apparently, they have to tow the party line, even if it’s bad for the local area. Several councillors have quit over this. And Reform’s Making Welfare Work policy could be another issue that forces Reform councillors to quit or defect.
Downhill
Reform has mostly targeted its wrath on migrants; now, it’s seeking to broaden the attacks to more clearly include sick, disabled, and unemployed people. As we’ve reported, this means Reform is attacking people who may have otherwise considered voting for them. And it’s unclear why they think this is a good idea.
Our current theory is that they haven’t thought it through. No doubt because workshy Farage couldn’t be bothered turning up to the planning sessions.
Featured image via Justin Tallis
By Willem Moore
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