Reform UK has pledged to overhaul Britain’s data privacy regime as part of a broader drive to cut business regulation and dismantle what it describes as “ridiculous EU laws”.

Robert Jenrick, the party’s Treasury spokesman, said the General Data Protection Regulation had “strangled” small businesses and technology companies, arguing that Britain should move further away from the regulatory framework inherited from the European Union after Brexit.

Under Reform’s proposals, the existing framework would be replaced with rules modelled on New Zealand’s privacy legislation, which the party argues would impose fewer burdens on businesses.

The proposals form part of a wider pro-business platform unveiled by Mr Jenrick, including changes to tax incentives designed to channel more private capital into small companies.

Mr Jenrick said the GDPR had “strangled small businesses and tech firms alike in a web of unnecessary regulation”.

“Ten years after the Brexit referendum, we should not still be following ridiculous EU privacy laws that hurt British businesses,” he added.

Reform said it would also overhaul the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme to make it easier for family members to invest in small businesses operated by their relatives.

Under the proposed changes, parents and grandparents would be able to invest up to £250,000 in a child or grandchild’s small business, receiving a 50 per cent income tax rebate and an exemption from capital gains tax if the investment were held for three years.

The package represents an attempt by Reform to position itself as a party of lower taxes and lighter regulation for entrepreneurs, while using Brexit as a platform for further divergence from EU rules.

The party has separately pledged to reverse the increase in employer national insurance contributions and unwind changes to inheritance tax affecting farms.

It has also proposed a “hard work bonus” that would remove income tax from overtime earnings, extending its pitch to workers as well as businesses.

The measures are intended to form part of a broader programme of deregulation and tax reform, with Reform seeking to argue that Britain’s post-Brexit freedoms should be used more aggressively to reduce compliance costs and stimulate private investment.