6 December 2024, 18:19

“Hundreds of thousands” of people could lose their jobs due to Rachel Reeves’ autumn budget, Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice has told LBC.

Richard Tice warned Labour’s economic policies could result in the loss of thousands of jobs across the UK as he told LBC Reform UK “has the momentum” to challenge at the next General Election.

His comments come after one of the UK’s biggest recruiters warned that the country is heading towards recession, blaming the chancellor’s National Insurance hike for a slump in the jobs market.

“Hundreds of thousands of people could potentially lose their jobs because of the appalling blunder budget from Rachel from accounts,” the Reform UK deputy leader told LBC’s Tom Swarbrick.

Read more: UK ‘heading for recession’ amid ‘jobs car crash’ sparked by national insurance hike, recruitment giant warns

The chairman of recruitment giant Reed earlier told LBC that its data showed a 13% month-on-month decrease in job listings since October, and a 26% decline in comparison with November 2023, figures which, historically, have resulted in the UK entering a recession.

James Reed argued that the UK jobs market is facing an “accelerating car crash”, and that in seeking to address the £22 billion black hole they say had been left by the previous administration, the government has created “a million black holes” in companies’ balance sheets.

Sir Keir Starmer, however, has rejected claims the budget could plunge the UK into recession.

He said: “If you look at the last 5 months, and the work we’ve done to stabilise the economy and create the conditions we’re in for the inward investment, which is the real stimulant for wealth creation, for jobs, and for growth – I think you’ll see in the Investment summit we had just a few weeks ago 63 billion pounds worth of investment coming into this country, which is measured in jobs around the country – and that is the biggest inward investment into this country ever.

“And that shows that those that have the ability to invest, that will result in the jobs of the future, have confidence that now is the time to invest in the UK.

“So I’m very pleased that that’s happening and you know in addition to that the way in which the government is working the deal here at Hitachi, that’s the work that we’re doing and I’m very pleased that we’re delivering in that way.”

Setting his sights on the Civil Service, Mr Tice pledged to gut the “over 600 quangos and commissions” he believes are slowing down growth if Reform entered office.

“There is massive reform required, I can tell you there is no chance they will build 300,000 homes per year at best it will be 200,000 because of the extraordinary survey and bat surveys, all of this stuff is an extraordinary block on progress.

“You’ve got to make it very clear, the Civil Service has to change their ways very rapidly, you have to reduce the size of many of quangos and commissions that are completely useless.

“You’ve got to strip away vast chunks of regulation to make work pay, make it worth people employing people.”

He added: “This is not working, we need less civil servants and we need more employment in the private sector.”

Mr Tice, however, was unable to name any of the so-called “quangos.”

Pressed on whether his party has been in contact with tech billionaire and Donald Trump ally Elon Musk, Mr Tice said while Nigel Farage has spoken to the South African, he doesn’t know if a reported £100million donation is on its way.