Nigel Farage's brutal attack on County Hall ahead of Norfolk visit |
Writing in the Eastern Daily Press, the Reform UK leader accused the Conservative-run county council of “maladministration”.
He also took aim at the pay packets of County Hall’s most senior executives, questioning why its chief executive, Tom McCabe, earns more than the prime minister.
Mr Farage also criticised what he saw as a series of wasteful spending decisions by the authority.
Mr Farage accused the Tory-led council of "maladministration" (Image: PA)
He claimed the council had spent £476,000 on translators between 2022 to 2023, and made reference to the £160,000 cost of converting a farm house into a children’s home west of Norwich that was later scrapped entirely.
He pointed to 24,000 violent crime incidents recorded across Norfolk in the past year, and said there were roughly six potholes for every mile of road in the county.
The council, he said, has run up £884 million in debt - costing taxpayers the equivalent of £90,000 a day in interest alone.
Mr Farage is due to speak at a ticketed rally at the Norfolk Showground this evening alongside Reform chairman Dr David Bull and “special guests”.
The event is part of the party's campaign for next month's local elections, where it has been tipped to make big gains.
In Norfolk, voters will head to the polls on May 7 for every seat at County Hall and 14 of 39 Norwich City Council wards.
Protestors have already said they plan to demonstrate against Mr Farage at tonight's Showground event.
A post - which gives no details about who is behind it - has been circulating online encouraging people to go to the venue an hour beforehand to "tell Reform to do one".
Mr Farage's visit comes a week after an eventful trip to Suffolk.
He was forced to cut short a planned walkabout in Felixstowe after being confronted by protestors, while demonstrators also assembled outside a Reform event at Trinity Park in Ipswich.
Mr Farage's visit to Ipswich also saw a sparked an extraordinary row involving the town's football team, after he published a video online showing him on a tour of Portman Road.
Many Ipswich Town fans were angered by his appearance there, saying it suggested the club had endorsed him.
It led to days of humiliation for the club which started with officials first trying to deny any involvement in the visit and ended with Mark Ashton, the chairman, "unreservedly apologising" for the farrago.
Mr Farage grinning in front of the Ipswich badge (Image: Reform UK)
GET READY NORFOLK, THE TURQUOISE TSUNAMI IS COMING... BY NIGEL FARAGE
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 work 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 Norfolk, council tax has increased by almost 24pc in the past five years.
It's not hard to see why.
Norfolk County Council’s CEO earns more than £200,000 a year - £32,000 more than the prime minister - to oversee this mess. That’s along with 31 members of staff on salaries of over £100,000.
Thanks to the Conservative's maladministration, Norfolk County Council has run up £884 million worth of debt.
That’s costing over £32.5 million a year just in interest - the equivalent of almost £90,000 a day that local taxpayers have to stump up.
But then are you that surprised when the council spent £476,000 on translators in 2022/23 alone, and somehow spent nearly £160,000 of taxpayer money to convert a farm into a children’s home which never ended up housing a single child.
If that wasn’t bad enough, it managed to waste £300,000 on consultants to devise a strategy for the council to achieve net zero by 2030.
And just look at the state of the roads. By our calculations, there are roughly six potholes for every mile of road around Norfolk.
Violent crime is everywhere - there were over 24,000 incidents in Norfolk 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.
We’ve delivered and identified more than £700 million in efficiency savings without touching frontline services in councils across the country, enabling us to deliver the lowest council tax position of any political party this year.
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.