A Reform Government would retain the Office of Budgetary
Responsibility and maintain the independence of the Bank of
England, , Reform's newly announced
Shadow Chancellor, will say tomorrow [Wednesday 18
February].
Jenrick will back the two economic institutions in his first
speech as Shadow Chancellor in the City of London, as part of a
package of announcements designed to reassure investors and
business.
Jenrick will place restoring stability and eliminating wasteful
spending at the heart of Reform's economic pitch, announcing the
party is working up a comprehensive plan to turn around Britain's
broken economy. He will promise that a Reform Government will
“end the chaos and restore stability.”
He will also say Reform is the "only party that will be as
careful with your money as you are", attacking Labour and the
Conservatives for "taking more of the British people's money and
spraying it around — with no regard for how hard they've worked
for it or their priorities."
He will announce both bodies will be retained and reformed. The
Bank will be stripped of ancillary responsibilities, such as Net
Zero. The OBR will open itself up to more outside, proven
forecasting expertise.
Jenrick will criticise the OBR for overestimating the economic
benefits of low-skilled migration and underestimating the benefit
of taxes - and pledge greater diversity of opinion within the
organisation. But he will reject calls to abolish the OBR,
arguing that it has helped to instil greater fiscal discipline.
In a speech to the City of London Jenrick will defend the
independence of the Bank of England. He will criticise the Bank
for “excessive quantitative easing” and for “taking its eye off
the ball on inflation”, but he will argue that it is still a
force for stability which should be defended.
Reform's shadow Chancellor is expected to say:
“Everything Reform promise will be fully-costed. And
because we're confident about the approach we will take, we're
happy to have our homework marked.
The OBR is far from perfect. But the impetus for its creation was
a desire to instill fiscal discipline, and that is something we
wholeheartedly endorse.
Rather than abolish it, we will reform it. We will break up this
cosy consensus and ensure it has diversity of opinion. And we'll
run competitions for superforecasters to join the body and pay
competitive salaries to those who most accurately model the
impact of Treasury decisions.”
Jenrick will go on to say:
“Under Reform, the Bank of England will remain independent.
Our interest will always be keeping inflation low because that is
how we will keep people's bills down. So we will strip the Bank
of distractions which have been loaded onto it. That includes the
requirement for the Bank to help the transition to Net Zero.
And we will demand that the Bank must is a more open institution,
and the private sector better represented on the Monetary Policy
Committee.”
Notes to Editors:
-
will be making his speech
in the City of London at 11:00 AM tomorrow.
