Britain’s right-wing Reform UK has said it would reform the way the Bank of England and the Office for Budget Responsibility operate, while maintaining their formal independence, in a bid to reassure investors about its economic credibility.
The party, led by Nigel Farage, said it supported both institutions despite previously criticising them. Reform proposed appointing more business figures to the Bank’s interest rate-setting committee and removing what it described as “distractions” such as climate-related work, arguing the Bank should sharpen its focus on inflation.
Jenrick: Bank must “perform better”
Robert Jenrick, unveiled this week as Reform’s prospective finance minister, repeated the party’s criticism of the Bank’s past bond-buying programmes and said it had “taken its eye off the ball” on inflation.
“Under Reform, the Bank of England will remain independent,” Jenrick said during a speech in London’s financial district. “But the bank must perform better.”
Reform also outlined changes to the Office for Budget Responsibility, whose forecasts underpin government fiscal plans. The party said it would introduce so-called “super-forecasters”, selected through competitions for the most accurate modelling of Treasury decisions.
Jenrick accused the OBR of underestimating the economic benefits of tax cuts while overstating the positive impact of low-skilled migration on growth.
Fiscal rules and tax pledges
Reform said it would develop strict fiscal rules in consultation with investors and reiterated Farage’s commitment not to cut taxes until borrowing had been reduced.
“We will only cut taxes when we have generated the fiscal headroom necessary to make tax cuts sustainable,” Jenrick said, adding that savings of £25bn a year could be achieved through reductions in welfare, foreign aid and other areas of spending.
With the next general election due by 2029, Reform is seeking to present itself as a credible economic alternative. The party is currently polling ahead of the governing Labour Party in some surveys.
The comments come against the backdrop of the market turmoil triggered by former Prime Minister Liz Truss’s 2022 “mini-budget”, which sidelined the OBR and proposed unfunded tax cuts, sending bond markets sharply lower. Jenrick, who served as a junior minister during Truss’s short-lived premiership, said both the Conservatives and Labour shared responsibility for rising welfare costs.
