Reform Unveils Cuts of Up to £100bn on Conference Eve
Robert Jenrick, Reform’s economy spokesman, set out plans to cut spending by £80bn–£100bn a year — £50bn from welfare, up to £30bn from net zero programmes, quangos, aid and the civil service, plus a claimed £28bn saving on debt interest: “The message from the markets is very clear: we have got to cut spending.” He promised to cut borrowing costs “to French levels” within 100 days as chancellor, as the party’s Birmingham conference opened under the shadow of donation investigations.
This is Reform’s bid to pass the seriousness test the bond market set Westminster this week — and the arithmetic shows the strain of the attempt: the headline swells from £80bn to £100bn only by counting a hoped-for fall in debt interest as though it were a cut, and £50bn from welfare while protecting the triple lock means finding it from working-age claimants alone, a choice with faces attached. The French comparison is bold given what markets currently charge Paris. Still, the direction matters: a party built on grievance is drafting fiscal policy, writing to gilt investors, and courting the City — behaviour of an outfit that believes it may govern. Watch whether the conference’s donation scandals drown the pitch before investors hear it.