Reform UK criticised for claiming funding NHS and reaching net zero are at odds

Richard Tice claimed fulfilling the pledge meet net zero would cost about £50bn a year while cutting NHS waiting lists to zero in two years would require £17bn. Photograph: Isabel Infantes/Reuters

The Reform UK party has been accused by green campaigners of trying to “weaponise” the climate crisis as a wedge issue in the general election after the party leader claimed funding the NHS and reaching net zero were at odds.

At a press conference in Westminster on Monday, Reform’s leader, Richard Tice, suggested that scrapping the UK’s pledge to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 would free up cash for the NHS.