This is an extract from a speech delivered by Robert Jenrick on 9th October 2026.
Conference season is behind us. Each party has now outlined its economic priorities. In three weeks, the Chancellor will deliver his first Budget.It’s a reasonable moment to put the offers side by side and to ask three basic questions. Who benefits? Who's paying? And what do these visions say about how each party sees our country?
What strikes me most about both these parties is how little they want to change. None of it amounts to very much.
Burnham moves a few billion from pensioners to a fantasy care service. Badenoch moves a few billion from people with two jobs to people with £2 million in the bank. But mostly we carry on - exactly as before.
I was in the room when the Conservative Shadow Cabinet was asked whether Britain is broken. Almost everyone said no.
Badenoch says the same and the truth is Burnham agrees with her. One thinks Britain is fine and inheritance tax for multi-millionaires is the problem. The other thinks Britain is doing okay and the voting system is the big issue.
They're arguing about the position of the furniture in a house with no roof, that’s burning down.
I’ll say what they won’t: Britain is broken.
A state that takes 38% of everything we earn and can't get you a GP appointment, a copper or a court date is broken.
A country that taxes the minimum wage while spending £100 billion a year paying people not to work is broken.
A nation that pays more servicing its debt than its armed forces is broken.So let me answer my own three questions.
Who benefits under Reform?
In the first 100 days of a Reform government, in our very first Budget, the tax-free allowance goes from £12,570 to £15,000. That’s £500 a year back for every basic-rate taxpayer, including the lowest paid.
Nearly a thousand pounds for a working couple. Three million of the lowest paid out of income tax altogether. Forty million people better off. And if it isn't done in 100 days, I'll resign.
Who's paying? Not you.
We'll cut foreign aid for rich countries. Clamp down on the benefits bill. And scrap the Net Zero nonsense instead. We will take £80 billion from them and give it back to you.
And what does that say about how we see the country?
That it's broken. That it’s just not working for people like you. And that we can't go on as we are.
So let me finish where I began. Three conferences. Three answers.
Labour looked after the claimant and came for the pensioner with a £30 billion Budget bomb still to detonate. The Tories wrote a tax plan for their wealthy mates.Reform put £500 back in the pocket of every worker in Britain, and cut their bills to boot.
Labour chose claimants. The Tories chose Kensington.
We chose you.
If you’re a nurse, a porter, a school caretaker we’re on your side. If you’re a tradesman, we’ve got your back. If you’re a pensioner, we’ll always protect you.Because we know who our people are and how they live their lives. Working, providing, giving, building - always trying to improve their family, their community, our country.
We get that life feels tough right now. We get you can’t even take the kids out without worrying whether you can afford your mortgage. We know that it’s been like that for far too long. We know how you feel.
But hear this: help is on its way.
This is the single greatest country on Earth. And it’s about time that it felt like it.A day will come when your government puts you first. A day will come when you get a fair deal.
But we need you to stick in there. We need you to keep the faith. To keep the flame burning for our country. Because hope is on the horizon. Reform is on your side. And Reform is coming.
Watch the full press conference here.
Conference season is behind us. Each party has now outlined its economic priorities. In three weeks, the Chancellor will deliver his first Budget.It’s a reasonable moment to put the offers side by side and to ask three basic questions. Who benefits? Who's paying? And what do these visions say about how each party sees our country?
What strikes me most about both these parties is how little they want to change. None of it amounts to very much.
Burnham moves a few billion from pensioners to a fantasy care service. Badenoch moves a few billion from people with two jobs to people with £2 million in the bank. But mostly we carry on - exactly as before.
I was in the room when the Conservative Shadow Cabinet was asked whether Britain is broken. Almost everyone said no.
Badenoch says the same and the truth is Burnham agrees with her. One thinks Britain is fine and inheritance tax for multi-millionaires is the problem. The other thinks Britain is doing okay and the voting system is the big issue.
They're arguing about the position of the furniture in a house with no roof, that’s burning down.
I’ll say what they won’t: Britain is broken.
A state that takes 38% of everything we earn and can't get you a GP appointment, a copper or a court date is broken.
A country that taxes the minimum wage while spending £100 billion a year paying people not to work is broken.
A nation that pays more servicing its debt than its armed forces is broken.So let me answer my own three questions.
Who benefits under Reform?
In the first 100 days of a Reform government, in our very first Budget, the tax-free allowance goes from £12,570 to £15,000. That’s £500 a year back for every basic-rate taxpayer, including the lowest paid.
Nearly a thousand pounds for a working couple. Three million of the lowest paid out of income tax altogether. Forty million people better off. And if it isn't done in 100 days, I'll resign.
Who's paying? Not you.
We'll cut foreign aid for rich countries. Clamp down on the benefits bill. And scrap the Net Zero nonsense instead. We will take £80 billion from them and give it back to you.
And what does that say about how we see the country?
That it's broken. That it’s just not working for people like you. And that we can't go on as we are.
So let me finish where I began. Three conferences. Three answers.
Labour looked after the claimant and came for the pensioner with a £30 billion Budget bomb still to detonate. The Tories wrote a tax plan for their wealthy mates.Reform put £500 back in the pocket of every worker in Britain, and cut their bills to boot.
Labour chose claimants. The Tories chose Kensington.
We chose you.
If you’re a nurse, a porter, a school caretaker we’re on your side. If you’re a tradesman, we’ve got your back. If you’re a pensioner, we’ll always protect you.Because we know who our people are and how they live their lives. Working, providing, giving, building - always trying to improve their family, their community, our country.
We get that life feels tough right now. We get you can’t even take the kids out without worrying whether you can afford your mortgage. We know that it’s been like that for far too long. We know how you feel.
But hear this: help is on its way.
This is the single greatest country on Earth. And it’s about time that it felt like it.A day will come when your government puts you first. A day will come when you get a fair deal.
But we need you to stick in there. We need you to keep the faith. To keep the flame burning for our country. Because hope is on the horizon. Reform is on your side. And Reform is coming.
Watch the full press conference here.
