Robert Jenrick, the former Conservative MP and now Reform’s so-called ‘shadow chancellor’, has set out a raft of tax proposals with sharp criticism of service levels at HMRC.

His headline grabbing pitch was a £30 discount of the annual tax bill for taxpayers who have been on hold to HMRC for more than 30 minutes, raising immediate questions about the potential for nuisance calls to the tax office.

In a speech on Wednesday in London, Jenrick, who is one of eight Reform UK MPs, said his plans would mark a ‘new approach for HMRC’.

‘We’ve all been stuck waiting on the HMRC phoneline, spending hours on hold trying to give them money that you have earned, losing time that you’ll never get back,’ said Jenrick.

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