Politics
Reform’s Robert Jenrick Offers To Resign From A Job He Doesn’t Even Have
Robert Jenrick announced he would resign as chancellor on Saturday if he did not deliver on his promises.
The only problem is, Jenrick is not the chancellor. The Newark MP is Reform’s Treasury spokesperson.
He prefers to use the title of shadow chancellor, though only the Conservatives are entitled to call themselves the shadow cabinet as the second largest party in the Commons and the official opposition to the government.
Jenrick was on the Conservative front bench as the shadow justice secretary until he was sacked for plotting to defect to Reform.
In a statement released during Reform’s chaotic party conference, the Newark MP said that if his party were elected to government, he would cut taxes for 40 million British taxpayers.
He said his plan to increase tax-free Personal Allowance to £15,000 in his first Budget would take 2.9 million people out of income tax altogether.
He said this would stop State Pension from being taxed and it would be worth almost £1,000 to an average working couple.
He claimed: “This isn’t an aspiration, nor is it an aim. It is a promise. It is a promise I made to thousands of party members in Birmingham – and millions of voters across the country – live and on camera. And it is a promise I plan to keep.
“If I do not deliver it, I should not remain chancellor. Please consider this my letter of resignation.”
Jenrick said: “The British people are sick and tired of chancellors – and governments – failing to deliver on their promises.”
His bizarre promise came after his party faced intense scrutiny after an undercover sting operation – conducted by investigative group Verbatim and published in a Channel 4 News documentary – accused two top party aides of accepting US funds for the party.
It is illegal under British electoral law to accept political donations by someone not eligible to vote in the UK or a UK-registered company.
The scandal overshadowed the entire conference, even though the party were hoping to draw a line under the ongoing parliamentary probe into the £5 million donation Farage failed to declare when he became an MP.
Reform has lost its dominant lead in the opinion polls too, even falling behind Labour and the Tories in a survey from More in Common this week.
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