Robert Jenrick is a salesman. For much of his adult life, he’s been selling something. Prior to his accession to Parliament, the one-time Tory leadership contender plied his trade at the auction house Christie’s, where he served as an international managing director.
It’s a particularly odd scene to picture. As his beady eyes scan the room, desperate for a familiar face, he spots a raised bid paddle. ‘Do I see £72 million? £72 million there, going once, twice, and sold to the two crypto billionaires who want absolutely nothing in return.’
And, since landing himself on the green benches, little Bobby J has kept up the whole salesman shtick. In 2016, he tried to sell Remain to the British public. He failed. A few years later, he tried to sell the idea that letting in close to 1,000,000 people in a single year wasn’t his fault. Again, he failed. One suspects the only thing he’s ever been any good at selling is Ozempic. I mean, just look at that jawline.
He has since turned his attention to Reform. For the last few months, he’s tried to sell the British public the idea that Reform are the only serious party when it comes to the economy, and that both the Tories and Labour cannot be trusted with the keys to the Treasury. Surprise surprise, he’s failed yet again.
In a strongly worded letter to Kemi Badenoch, Jenrick bashed the Tories for endorsing a Prosperity Institute report, which called for the national living wage (NLW) to be frozen for five years. “Nobody who cares about working people would pre-determine the national living wage for an entire five years in an unpredictable inflationary environment,” he wrote in the letter.
Oh Robert. What ever shall we do with you? Does one need reminding of the economic environment facing the country at present? Does one really need reminding of just how bad things are? Since Labour came to power, things have been dire – especially for young people.
The youth unemployment rate hit 16 per cent earlier this year – marking a record high, and nearly 1,000,000 young people are not in employment, education or training (NEET). Couple this with the fact that, since Labour swanned into Number 10, the cost of hiring a full-time, minimum wage worker who is over the age of 21 has risen by more than £3,400 per year, and things look really rather bad.
The response from the government has been to engage in what can only be described as state-sanctioned bribery. Three grand a pop to any firm that takes on a young person who has been out of work for six months or more. Of course, there’s very little mention of the £1bn price tag that accompanies such a scheme, but that’s really beside the point.
And so, when the Tories endorse a policy that could add up to 597,000 jobs nationwide, should we really be as dismissive as Mr Jenrick? After all, the ever-increasing living wage is one of the major contributing factors for youth unemployment. Should we really turn our noses up at the policy, then, believing instead that the Tories are the party for those that toss the pill about with Chuggsy and the like? Are the Tories really the party of Belgravia? Must we really begin addressing Kemi Badenoch as ‘Kensington Kemi’?
No, is the answer. Because opting to freeze the NLW, whilst a very difficult policy to sell to the public, is the right decision. The medicine needed to remedy Britain’s financial sickness is never going to be easy to swallow. And the truth is that difficult decisions are necessary. That’s merely the reality of governance.
And that is perhaps what is so despairing about Jenrick’s stance on this issue. Because in trying so desperately to position Reform as a party that is serious on economic matters, he is instead showcasing that they will shy away from the most strenuous of asks. That, instead of facing up to the realities that come with governance, Reform will instead toss out feel-good soundbites that go down well on the doorstep, but that don’t add up in practice.
Call me naive, but that is no way to lead a country, nor manage an economy. In Jenrick’s view, anyone who disagrees with his stance seemingly deplores working people. It’s a convenient line to take, if not a noticeably serious one.
That is not to say that his opposition to the policy is wholly without merit. Painful as it is to admit, his argument about optics carries some weight. Choosing to freeze the NLW, whilst simultaneously maintaining the triple lock and abolishing Inheritance Tax (IHT) sends a message to voters. As our wonderful columnist Matthew Jeffrey pointed out yesterday, “we risk looking as though we are more interested in protecting inheritances at the top than helping people climb from the bottom.” It’s true, but with one important caveat.
Because whilst freezing the NLW might seem indicative of the ‘nasty party’ at first glance, the reality is that it opens up opportunity. It gets young people off of benefits, into work, and onto the career ladder. That’s a noble enough aim, and one that we shouldn’t scoff at.
I’ll be the first to admit, I was surprised that our party endorsed the policy. Why on Earth would we put ourselves in such a vulnerable position, opening ourselves up to the usual criticisms? But the fact is that Kemi is sending a message through this decision. It is not the message that the Tories care only for those with multi-million pound inheritances. No. It is that the Tories are the only party that are willing to face up to the reality that Britain’s financial problems require hard to swallow solutions.
And so, Robert Jenrick may well try to sell you the idea that only Reform can save Britain from economic decline. He may stand at a podium, having put on his thin-framed spectacles in an effort to look more trustworthy, but if we are to be honest with ourselves, the only thing Jenrick is selling the British public is a bridge, and a pretty big one at that.