Leader of Lib Dem opposition says promises of tax cuts made before local elections had been ‘utterly broken’
Laila Cunningham, Reform UK’s candidate for London mayor, has rejected claims that she broke the law by failing to provide accounts to Companies House on time.
She was responding to a report published by the Times which covers her record in business. On Wednesday Nigel Farage named Cunningham, a former CPS prosecutor and a former Tory councillor, as his party’s London mayoral candidate, meaning she is now set to be one of Reform’s leading national figures.
Records show that three companies, either owned by Cunningham or in which she served as a director, were struck off by Companies House for apparently failing to file required documents.
Failing to file company accounts is a criminal offence under UK law and while directors can be prosecuted this action is rarely taken.
Like many entrepreneurs, I’ve set up small companies over the years … I tried out different business ideas. Some became inactive. And that happens to thousands. They were all dormant, by the way. Every year. There was never any wrongdoing. No one was defrauded. And I passed all CPS vetting right after that.
Companies House routinely strikes off inactive or non-filing companies. It’s a paperwork sanction. The system is designed to clear dead companies out of the register. That’s hundreds of thousands of UK companies that are struck off every year. Overwhelmingly, because they’re dormant and admin has lapsed. It’s not wrongdoing. It’s just a way to get rid of dead companies. Lots of people do it.
And you know what? We should reward that because I was taking risk. All my money went into that. Sadly, it didn’t work out because of Covid. And that’s what happened.
Kent county council (KCC) produced its draft budget for 2026-27 on Thursday evening, revealing a 3.99% council tax hike.
Reform UK took control of KCC after the local elections in May where it overturned a 30-year Tory majority, winning 57 out of 81 seats.
These proposals reflect the real priorities of Kent residents. People took the time to share their views, and we listened …
Through sound financial management and efficiencies, the council has been able to keep the proposed [council tax] increase below the level previously expected.
Reform stood for election promising to make savings and lower the burden on taxpayers. Today, that promise has been utterly broken. They are boasting about a nearly 4% increase instead of 5%, a difference of just 33p per week for the average Kent family.
It’s a poor outcome given the hype and promises made at the election and for the last nine months.