Reform UK has pledged to reform inheritance tax so it could be donated to charity and halve the amount the UK spends on international aid.
The party’s “contract with you”, published yesterday, promises that a Reform-led government would abolish inheritance tax for all estates worth less than £2m and charge 20 per cent above the new threshold, “with the option to donate to charity instead”.
There are no further details in the party’s policy document, which it says has been “deliberately issued as a working draft” that would be finalised later in the year.
The document says a Reform UK government would cut foreign aid by half to “save £6bn from the £12.8bn budget”.
“We can do much more good by spending less with better targeting,” it says. “A major review is needed into the effectiveness of overseas aid.”
The Labour Party and the Conservative have both promised to increase the foreign aid budget back to 0.7 per cent of gross national income, albeit without definitive timeframes.
While the Labour Party has promised to end tax breaks for private schools, many of which are charities, Reform said it would incentivise parents to choose independent schools by providing tax relief of 20 per cent on fees paid.
Reform said the move would “significantly ease pressure on state schools” and improve education for all.
The Reform UK paper promises to increase the income tax threshold to £20,000 per year, which it says would mean seven million fewer people would pay tax on their earnings but would also mean they could not claim Gift Aid on their charitable donations.
The paper makes just two other direct references to charities, which are around stopping child grooming gangs by working with civil society organisations, councils and health services, and a pledge to cut NHS waiting lists by using independent providers such as Nuffield Health and Marie Curie.
The policy document also pledges to leave the European Convention on Human Rights and to abandon plans to reach net zero carbon emissions, which it says would save the public purse £20bn a year.