Robert Jenrick's fiscal plan hailed a 'welcome move' as Reform UK ditches 'fantasy economics'

During a keynote speech in the capital today, the former Tory MP vowed to tackle Britain’s ballooning benefits bill and restore the two-child benefit cap.

He declared: "Reform will defuse the benefits bomb set to bankrupt Britain. We are developing the most comprehensive plan for welfare reform in British politics, which we will set out in the months ahead.

"We will stop those with mild anxiety, depression, and similar conditions from claiming disability benefits and instead encourage them into the dignity of work.

"We will reinstate in-person assessments and require clinical diagnoses to weed out those who are choosing a life on benefits.

"We will end the abuse of the motability scheme, where expensive cars are handed out for conditions like tennis elbow, and paid for by working people who can’t afford those cars themselves.

"We’ll make sure only British nationals can claim benefits in the first place."

Offering his analysis of Mr Jenrick's speech, Mr Rentoul told GB News: "The speech wasn't that convincing, but it's a welcome move in the right direction.

"Never mind Tory-fication, accommodating reality is always a good thing to see in a politician."

Suggesting that Mr Jenrick was "echoing" some of Rachel Reeves's previous slogans, he added: "Giving up the idea of abolishing the Office for Budget Responsibility, that's a step forward.

"Giving up the questioning of the independence of the Bank of England, which Richard Tice was doing, that's a step forward.

"And I thought it was interesting that Robert Jenrick actually echoed quite a lot of Labour slogans, a lot of things that Rachel Reeves said in opposition, such as Reform being the party of workers, not welfare, saying we're not going to promise things that we can't afford - very Rachel Reeves.

"And saying, 'we'll look after your money as if it was our money', not something that Labour has kept to in Government, but it's a good promise to make."

Host Tom Harwood then argued that voters "want politicians to be careful with money", but it results in politicians across parties "all sounding the same".

Mr Rentoul responded: "That's because the voters want the same things, and politicians who are serious about Government - I mean, at the last election, nobody thought Reform was going to form a Government, so Nigel Farage and Richard Tice happily proposed £90billion worth of tax cuts with no idea where the money was coming from.

"But if you're taking the possibility of a Reform Government seriously, and I think everybody has to, then it's good that Reform is taking its responsibilities seriously and taking reality seriously, and not proposing fantasy economics instead."

In his speech, Mr Jenrick has promised to conduct a review of Britain’s tax code in a major overhaul, not seen since the 1980s.

He said: "We will never make promises we can’t keep to the British people.

"We want a simpler, fairer tax system that incentivises work, saving and investment. That means fixing the absurd marginal tax rates many face today.

"So we intend to review the tax code in a programme not seen since the landmark reforms of Nigel Lawson.

“But we also understand that we can’t make tax cuts while running a huge deficit in the vain hope that the Laffer curve alone will do the hard work for us."