The leader of Kent County Council (KCC) has condemned as an “outright lie” comments made by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in her pre-budget speech this morning.

Cllr Linden Kemkaran was furious at Rachel Reeves’ assertions that the Reform UK-led authority was unable to find any savings and would increase council tax for millions.

Mrs Reeves took a swipe at Nigel Farage’s outfit during a 30 minute speech to the media this morning, believed to be a prelude to tax rises for millions in her budget on November 26.

She said: “Reform who promised savings from our public services and yet in Kent County Council and councils they run across Britain, apparently can’t find a single penny and instead are going to increase council tax for two million people.”

Cllr Kemkaran said: “It was an outright lie about Kent County Council. I was shocked to be honest.

“This was the Chancellor of the Exchequer - she has got a budget to deliver in just a few weeks time and instead of focusing on the job in hand she is trying to deflect from her own shortcomings by what is going on at KCC.

“I mean, I have never heard anything like it.”

Reform UK claims to have identified millions of pounds in savings across the board, including scrapping Net Zero commitments, making home-to-school transport more efficient and dropping the sale of Sessions House where KCC is headquartered.

Cllr Kemkaran, who represents the Maidstone south east division, said she has “absolutely zero confidence” in the Labour government or Mrs Reeves being able to “string together a coherent budget”.

The leader added: “We are struggling in local authorities and everybody is saying the same thing. I think that the government is absolutely terrified of Reform UK, and I think that’s why they referenced KCC. They can see that under Reform UK we are turning things round.”

Cllr Kemkaran’s comments come after more than two weeks of headlines which stemmed from a leaked video of her swearing and raising her voice to members during a virtual meeting.

Five councillors - Cllrs Paul Thomas, Brian Black, Bill Barrett, Robert Ford and Olver Bradshaw - have been thrown out of the party for allegedly bringing it into disrepute.

Cllrs Barrett and Ford have started a breakaway movement called Independent Reformers but the other three have decided to dissociate themselves from it.

A statement released on Sunday night said: “We declare our continued support for Reform UK and its leadership both national and local.

“We will continue to operate in line with our pledges to the electorate.

“We have seen one of the other expelled KCC members recently made a statement to the Press. We disassociate ourselves from this as it doesn’t represent us or our views.”

Cllr Bradshaw said: “My view is that I am upset at being expelled and I continue to maintain that I haven’t leaked anything and I continue to be Reform UK without the badge. I still believe in the Reform project.”