Reform UK’s Plan To Scrap GDPR Laws Slammed

Reform UK has been criticised for its new “unworkable” plans to scrap GDPR laws if it ever gets into government.

The right-wing party will announce a set of “flagship policies” on Wednesday, including dropping GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) legislation which protects how personal information is used by organisations in the UK.

Reform’s Treasury spokesperson Robert Jenrick will unveil a plan to replace the current protections with “light-touch style privacy law modelled on New Zealand”.

Ahead of his announcement, he said: “GDPR has strangled small businesses and tech firms alike in a web of unnecessary regulation.”

He added: “Ten years after the Brexit referendum we should not still be following ridiculous EU privacy laws that hurt British businesses.

“For decades governments have focused on big corporations while leaving small businesses to fall by the wayside. No more.”

Party leader Nigel Farage also claimed small businesses in the UK have been “suffocated by years of punishing taxes, suffocating EU red tape and a big-state obsession that rewards dependency over hard-work”.

The party will also allow relatives to invest up to £250,000 in small businesses run by their children or grandchildren with an income tax rebate of 50% – and an exemption from capital gains tax if they hold the investment for three years.

Reform say they will reverse former chancellor Rachel Reeves’ national insurance increase for British workers too, supposedly making it “cheaper” to hire Brits.

Reform say it will also increase the VAT registration from £90,000 to £150,000, scrap the 2035 Electric Vehicle Mandate, create the £2,000 Apprentice Retention Bonus, remove Labour’s work regulations and introduce a Hard Work Bonus by scrapping income tax on overtime.

The party intends to reverse Labour’s inheritance tax hike on family businesses and farms and abolish the government’s goal to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

However a Labour Party spokesperson condemned the plans to remove protections for the public.

They said: “First Reform want to rip up the Online Safety Act which keeps kids safe online. Now they plan to scrap vital safeguards that protect people’s private data.

“These unworkable and unserious plans are just a desperate attempt to distract from Nigel Farage’s secret £5 million ‘gift’ from a Thai-based crypto billionaire.

“With Andy Burnham’s leadership, Labour is backing small businesses, reviving our high streets and driving growth in every postcode.”

Reform has lost its dominant lead in the opinion polls in recent months amid heightened scrutiny over the party’s finances.

Farage triggered a by-election in his own constituency of Clacton in response to the criticism.

He was re-elected earlier this month after all other major parties pulled out of the political stunt.

The parliamentary probe into the £5 million donation – which he received from crpyto billionaire Christopher Harborne before the 2024 general election – has resumed upon Farage’s return to parliament.

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