Reform-linked thinktank ‘to call for big tax cuts for the rich’

A thinktank linked to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK is preparing an influential policy plan that is reportedly going to call for substantial tax cuts for the rich.The Centre for a Better Britain (CFABB) is due to publish the 200-page document next week, giving insight into the economic and financial policies that are likely to form part of Reform UK’s platform before the next election.The thinktank proposals are said to benefit some of the UK’s wealthiest taxpayers, by abolishing inheritance tax and phasing out capital gains tax, according to Bloomberg, which cited unnamed sources.That would mean depriving the Treasury of a lucrative source of funding. The UK’s inheritance tax raised £8.5bn last year, while capital gains tax brought in a record £24bn in 2024-25, for public and government operations.CFABB – founded by the former Reform chief operations officer Jonathan Brown – is also expected to propose cutting rules and regulation for the UK’s financial services sector, in what is being called “big bang 2.0”, a reference to Margaret Thatcher’s City deregulation drive in the 1980s.That is on top of calls to break up the Treasury and move its economic growth responsibilities to a different department, the news outlet reported.A spokesperson for CFABB said Bloomberg appeared to have been briefed on an “early draft of the report” that did not reflect what would be released next week. They also insisted that there would be “no unfunded tax cuts” proposed in the report, and “no suggestions that we go pre-2008” in terms of regulatory reforms.The spokesperson said the Bloomberg story included inaccuracies, but said they would not be drawn into discussing which points were incorrect.The prospective tax proposals come as Reform UK faces questions over the motivation of two crypto billionaires – Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne – who each donated £36m to the party within 24 hours last weekend. The donations, totalling a combined £72m, amplified concerns about the influence of “mega donors” on British politics. Harborne and Delo have denied seeking to buy influence over the party’s policies.CFABB has notable ties with Farage’s party, with its operations based in Millbank Tower near Reform’s headquarters.It formally launched as CFABB in September last year, after raising fresh funds under its previous guise, Resolute 1850. The original name is said to have been reference to the Royal Navy ship, HMS Resolute, whose timbers were used to make the US president’s desk in the Oval Office.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionIn an interview with the Financial Times last autumn, Brown – the thinktank’s founder – said he planned to look at ways to weaken the authority of Britain’s courts and civil service, in what some said echoed “Project 2025”, the US project drawn up in the run-up to Donald Trump’s second presidency to help him deliver radical conservative policies with greater political power.CFABB currently has five staff, and previously counted James Orr – Reform UK’s former head of policy – as the chair of its advisory board.Orr was suspended from Reform UK earlier this month after being filmed in an undercover investigation appearing to help orchestrate a plot to get around electoral laws on foreign donations. Orr denies wrongdoing.A spokesperson for CFABB said Orr stepped down from the thinktank role when he took a job at Reform in February, and was not replaced.