The former Prime Minister hit out at the cruel cuts pledged by Reform UK and explained this would be the equivalent of shutting down the NHS while closing schools

Gordon Brown warned a Reform UK Government would see poverty soar

A Nigel Farage government would mean more children in poverty and more pensioners suffering, Gordon Brown has claimed.

The former Prime Minister hit out at the cruel cuts pledged by Reform UK, totalling more than £200 billion a year, and explained this would be the equivalent of shutting down the NHS and closing schools. Mr Farage’s No2, Richard Tice, previously said he is plotting to slash public funding to 35% of GDP – which would wipe out a massive £275billion.

In a rallying call to take on Mr Farage and his cronies, Mr Brown warned failing to stop Reform would mean the public could not afford to be sick, disabled, or unemployed. Speaking to the Sunday Mirror, the Labour big beast also hit out at the Tory record that had left four and a half million children in poverty.

Gordon Brown being interviewed by our Assistant Political Editor in Scotland

He said: “Nigel Farage wants to savage public services. His vice chairman said a few days ago that he wanted to cut public expenditure by something in the order of 200 plus billion.

“That’s the equivalent of eliminating the National Health Service and lots of schools. So the effect of a Farage government will be that you can’t afford to be sick, you can’t afford to be disabled, you can’t afford to be unemployed, you can’t afford to be dependent on public services.

“So we’ve got to fight Farage by exposing the fact that the public services that people take for granted are at risk. More children in poverty, more pensioners suffering, unable to afford heating, all these things would happen under the Farage government.”

Expressing joy at Labour taking the fight to Reform UK at the party conference in Liverpool, Mr Brown urged voters not to forget the threat posed by the Tories.

He said: “The Conservatives are promising to cut public expenditure by 50 billion and they can’t tell you where it’s going to go and inevitably it’ll come back to the National Health Service or to the schools.”

Mr Brown was speaking at the Multibank in Fife, which offers everything from basic foods to baby products and toiletries to help tackle poverty.

The former PM was speaking at The Multibank in Fife

Warning of “rising levels” of poverty due to the legacy of 14 years of Tory rule, with 4.5 million children in poverty.

He said: “A million children in Britain are trying to sleep tonight without a bed of their own. Two million children are in homes that don’t either have a cooker or a heater or a washing machine or a fridge and can’t afford the hygiene goods like soap and shampoo, and three million children are skipping meals.