Nigel Farage has launched a furious tirade against Chancellor Rachel Reeves, accusing her of “pushing ordinary Britons to the edge of despair” with her looming wave of punishing tax rises.

Speaking after Reeves once again blamed Brexit for Britain’s economic challenges, Farage said the Labour Government was “using Brexit as a scapegoat for their own financial incompetence” while draining working families of every last penny.

“This isn’t economic recovery — it’s economic cruelty,” Farage thundered. “Rachel Reeves is hammering small businesses, homeowners and workers because she refuses to admit her own failures. People are being punished for daring to believe in Brexit.”

Reeves this week reignited tensions by claiming that Brexit had inflicted “long-term damage” on the UK economy — remarks she made before the International Monetary Fund, as she prepares for a high-stakes Budget expected to include sweeping tax hikes and spending cuts.

Economists warn the Chancellor faces a £50 billion black hole in public finances. But rather than slashing waste or curbing reckless government spending, she is reportedly considering a fresh raid on income, fuel and property taxes.

Farage slammed the approach as “an insult to every hard-working Briton.”

“Instead of tightening her own belt, she’s raiding yours,” he said. “While she lectures about global trade and ‘rebuilding ties with the EU’, ordinary people are choosing between heating and eating. Reeves’ Britain is one of despair, not prosperity.”

Critics within the business community echoed the warning, saying Labour’s economic agenda was “anti-enterprise and anti-growth.” One small business owner in Kent told GB News: “They call it stability — we call it strangulation.”

Reeves has argued her plans are necessary to stabilize Britain’s finances after years of “economic shocks,” including Brexit, austerity, and Liz Truss’s mini-budget. But to many, it’s another sign that Labour’s leadership is trapped in a cycle of blame rather than solutions.

Farage concluded:

“Rachel Reeves can lecture the IMF all she wants — but she’s lost the people at home. Britain didn’t vote for higher taxes, weaker borders and endless excuses. Labour is breaking this country faster than the Tories ever did.”