When Labour came to power, they promised “growth, growth, growth”. Rachel Reeves boasted of delivering the most “pro-business” Treasury Britain had ever seen. They vowed to raise living standards and to deliver economic stability.
But 12 months since the day Keir Starmer entered Downing Street, and Labour’s first year in government has delivered the opposite: weaker growth, higher taxes, the cost of living rising, unemployment up, borrowing through the roof and the public finances in disarray. This government’s economic record is one of broken promises, costly U-turns, and reckless mismanagement.
The official independent forecasts in March halved the forecast for economic growth this year. Growth has stalled because of Labour’s damaging policies – policies that punish business, choke investment, and leave working families worse off.
Labour’s £25 billion Jobs Tax has hit employers – and workers – hard. Businesses face soaring costs, forcing them to put up prices or cut jobs.
And at the Budget the Chancellor launched an inheritance tax raid on family-owned businesses. Confidence has been shattered.
This is no recipe for growth – it’s a stranglehold on our economy.
The national debt interest bill has exploded to nearly £100 billion a year – almost double what we spend on defence. Labour promised fiscal responsibility but instead abandoned it.
They rewrote the rules to allow hundreds of billions more in borrowing over the coming years – something Rachel Reeves said before the election she would not do. Another broken promise.
And now on top of the debts they were already racking up, Labour have made a series of humiliating u-turns on key policies with no clue how they are going to pay for them.
Their welfare reforms were stripped bare at the last minute in a desperate attempt to avoid both a defeat and a confidence vote in Keir Starmer.
Their U-turn on Winter Fuel Payments added a £1.25 billion hole. And we also know they’re eyeing scrapping the two-child benefit cap, another £3.5 billion unfunded cost.
This government is spending with no plan to pay.
Labour’s refusal to take tough decisions has left a massive hole in the public finances, and set the country on a dangerous path to soaring taxes and spiralling debt.
This summer, hardworking families face anxiety over how Labour plans to plug the growing financial black hole caused by their incompetence.
It isn’t a serious government – it’s chaos. And working families are having to tighten their belts.
Because, as sure as night follows day, Labour will put up your taxes. Yesterday morning, we heard from the head of the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies that Reeves could be set to clobber middle earners even more in a Budget raid in autumn.
As we have sadly warned all along, tax rises are now inevitable.
But even as we learn she could need to raise as much as an eyewatering £30 billion, Rachel Reeves still tries to pull the wool over our eyes. It’s shocking but not surprising – Labour’s thirst for tax rises cannot be quenched.
It’s no wonder Labour always leave office with unemployment higher than when they came in. This Government looks determined to fulfil that prophecy by any means necessary.