Jenrick pledges reform for small businesses
Reform UK’s economics chief Robert Jenrick has billed a package of tax and red tape reforms for small businesses as the “biggest plan” presented in a decade.
A week before the party’s conference in Birmingham, Jenrick has hailed a number of flagship policies designed to appeal to bosses employing fewer than 50 employees.
The party announced it would scrap GDPR, the EU-based rules that control how personal data is used by companies, with a “light-touch” law that could boost innovation and ease regulation for entrepreneurs.
The party cited research from a Washington DC-based think tank suggesting that new EU laws that came into force in 2018 have cut venture capital investment in tech firms by more than 20 per cent.
One other paper suggested that GDPR laws led to a third of available apps on Google Play Store being removed, while the entry of new apps onto stores fell by a half between 2026 and 2019.
Officials said small businesses were disproportionately affected by GDPR rules as legal obligations relating to contact-building and emails outside organisations could hamper firms.
They referred to GDPR and other regulations relating to net zero and workers’ rights as “silly rules”.
One Adam Smith Institute report suggested that GDPR reduced the size of the UK economy by around 0.4 per cent and had hit small firms’ sales and profits more than larger companies.
Jenrick calls for focus on small businesses
Jenrick has instead put forward a new model based on privacy laws in New Zealand, which involves smaller fines and has broader definitions around anonymity in data collection.
He added a number of other policies targeted at helping small businesses, which have previously been announced by Reform, would stop six million firms from “fall[ing] by the wayside”.
These announcements have included a pledge to partly reverse former Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ decision to hike the national insurance rate paid by employers from 13.8 per cent to 15 per cent when firms hire British workers while raising the VAT threshold from £90,000 to £150,000.
“Under a Reform government, the UK will be the best place in the world to start and grow a small business,” Jenrick said.
The party also confirmed it would ease pay and investment rules imposed on companies.
The Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) that offers tax reliefs to private investors in early-stage startup companies would be expanded to allow relatives to invest in small businesses.
The party has also pledged to scrap income tax on overtime, a controversial policy among some economists, and repealing the Employment Rights Act.
A Labour Party spokesperson 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 £5m ‘gift’ from a Thai-based crypto billionaire.”