Reform UK Shadow Chancellor Robert Jenrick has vowed to cut more than £80 billion from public spending under a Reform government, using the savings to reduce taxes for working people.
In an interview with the Telegraph, Jenrick said that Reform UK would deliver an emergency Budget immediately following a general election victory. He has out plans to cut £52 billion from welfare reform, £7 billion a year by cutting the foreign aid budget, £10 billion by ending Net Zero subsidies, and £7 billion by reducing civil servant and quango headcount.
“The message from the markets is very clear: we have got to cut spending and have a credible path to cutting taxes”, he said.
Jenrick said Labour’s economic agenda had left Britain “in a uniquely vulnerable position”, accusing Prime Minister Andy Burnham of taking the country “back to the 1970s” through nationalisation and higher spending.
“It turns out that putting on a T-shirt and being a jovial northerner isn’t enough to convince the markets you have got a strategy for the British economy, and they are taking fright.”
A Reform government would slash spending on Net Zero, foreign aid, quangos and the civil service, as well as major welfare reform. Jenrick said that those capable of working would be expected to do so, while workers would keep more of their own money through tax cuts.
“There is a big bargain at the heart of Reform’s offer to the country”, he said. “We will ensure that those who can work, do work, and when you work you will keep more of the money that you earn.”
Jenrick also said Reform would reassess benefit claimants receiving support for mental-health reasons and require people who have been out of work for at least a year to work in exchange for their benefits.
“Under Reform, there will be no more something for nothing”, he said.
In an interview with the Telegraph, Jenrick said that Reform UK would deliver an emergency Budget immediately following a general election victory. He has out plans to cut £52 billion from welfare reform, £7 billion a year by cutting the foreign aid budget, £10 billion by ending Net Zero subsidies, and £7 billion by reducing civil servant and quango headcount.
“The message from the markets is very clear: we have got to cut spending and have a credible path to cutting taxes”, he said.
Jenrick said Labour’s economic agenda had left Britain “in a uniquely vulnerable position”, accusing Prime Minister Andy Burnham of taking the country “back to the 1970s” through nationalisation and higher spending.
“It turns out that putting on a T-shirt and being a jovial northerner isn’t enough to convince the markets you have got a strategy for the British economy, and they are taking fright.”
A Reform government would slash spending on Net Zero, foreign aid, quangos and the civil service, as well as major welfare reform. Jenrick said that those capable of working would be expected to do so, while workers would keep more of their own money through tax cuts.
“There is a big bargain at the heart of Reform’s offer to the country”, he said. “We will ensure that those who can work, do work, and when you work you will keep more of the money that you earn.”
Jenrick also said Reform would reassess benefit claimants receiving support for mental-health reasons and require people who have been out of work for at least a year to work in exchange for their benefits.
“Under Reform, there will be no more something for nothing”, he said.
