The Reform Party has pledged to raise the HMRC personal tax-free allowance to £15,000, aiming to provide financial relief for millions of taxpayers. Robert Jenrick, the party’s Treasury spokesperson, announced this proposal at the Reform Party conference in Birmingham.
Jenrick, also serving as the party’s economic spokesman, promised to introduce the tax cut within the first 100 days if appointed chancellor, stating it would deliver “money that people really need right now.”
According to Reform’s estimates, increasing the tax-free allowance by £2,430 would save most taxpayers approximately £500 annually. Furthermore, 2.9 million individuals would be lifted out of paying income tax entirely.
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The party projects the cost of this policy to be £17.7 billion in the first year, escalating to £21 billion by the fifth year. Reform intends to fund the policy through £80 billion in planned public spending cuts.
“As chancellor, I will wake each day with one purpose: to make Britain a better place to work than it was the day before,” Jenrick said.
He criticised the current freeze on the tax-free allowance at £12,570 since 2021, highlighting that 1.3 million people were pushed into paying tax last year due to this stagnation. Jenrick expressed concern that Labour’s decision to freeze the allowance until 2031 imposes extra burdens on low-income workers and state pensioners, costing a full-time minimum wage worker more than £750 annually.
Jenrick added a bold commitment, declaring that if he fails to deliver the tax cut in his first Budget, he would resign as chancellor without hesitation.
Meanwhile, Nigel Farage has addressed allegations concerning overseas donations linked to Reform UK. In a BBC interview with Laura Kuenssberg, Farage acknowledged that the situation “looks bad” but denied any illegal foreign funding.
He described the party’s comments on the issue as “injudicious at best” and remarked on the challenging optics presented by undercover filming. Farage noted that political donation controversies are not unique to his party.
Additionally, Jenrick responded to an incident at the Reform Party conference involving a far-left protester who attempted to disrupt the leader’s speech. Speaking on Sky News’s Sunday Morning programme, he commented: “Oh, boohoo. We’re now in a country where someone who is – whatever she is – a far-left protester, goes into a party conference, tries to wreck the leader’s speech, and cries foul if a pensioner knocks her over the head with their Zimmer frame. I mean, come on, get a life.”