Chancellor John Healey has been urged by Reform UK to cut £40billion in “wasteful spending” so households can benefit from “£1,300 in tax relief”. Robert Jenrick – Nigel Farage’s pick to serve as Chancellor in a Reform Government – plans to cut £20billion from the welfare budget, £8billion from net zero subsidies, £6billion from foreign aid, £2 billion from quangos and the civil service, and £3 billion from “student loans to dead-end degrees and foreigners” if he can take control of the Treasury. He also plans to raise £1 billion from the immigration health surcharge.
Mr Jenrick is calling on the Chancellor to use £18billion of savings to hike the tax-free personal allowance to £15,000. He argues this would “leave the average household £1,000 better off”.
He said: “We can’t go on like this. Britain is broke. We need emergency spending cuts so we can give families and businesses tax relief. Benefits Burnham has chosen to kick all the tough decisions down the road. He can’t seem to find a single piece of wasteful spending to cut. Frankly, it’s a cowardly abdication of his duty to safeguard the country’s finances.”
In contrast, he said: “Reform won’t flinch from taking the decisions needed to put us on a better footing. We will confront out-of-control spending straight away – slashing the ballooning benefits bill, cutting foreign aid and ending net zero subsidies – so we can give households £1,300 in tax relief.”
As well as taking £250 off people’s energy bills and scrapping the fuel duty hike, Mr Jenrick wants to use savings to invest in defence and “restore fiscal headroom”.
On Monday, Mr Farage and Mr Jenrick plan to set out Reform UK’s “economic rescue plan”. While the Chancellor will present the Budget “red book”, Reform will produce a “teal paper”.
