𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves have driven the British economy off a cliff. They took us from the top of the G7 growth league right down to the relegation zone. And it’s working people paying the price.

They blame everyone but themselves, but the facts tell another story. In just six short months, they have raised taxes to record levels, punished small businesses, seen inflation rise, sent borrowing costs to a 27-year high and destroyed jobs. They have picked people’s pockets in the service of paying off their trade union paymasters and swelling the size of the state.

If over the last 14 years we forgot what the Labour party is about then Starmer has given us all a ghastly lesson. Growth, spending and borrowing are going in the wrong direction. The UK’s economic reputation is in tatters.

The Conservatives did not get everything right in our years in power and it’s important that we recognise that whilst we rebuild trust with the British people. But we were always guided by the key principle that work should always pay and businesses are the engine of growth – they are our economic future. Something sorely missing from this government.

Labour are having even worse problems than we did because they are presenting policies without a plan. And they still seem to be guided by the bizarre idea the state itself creates growth. It doesn’t. It is businesses that do that.

Just like Express readers, we know that businesses need lower taxes, not higher taxes; less regulation, not more regulation; and a Government that is on their side. Labour convinced everyone they understood these things.

But Rachel Reeves has not been straight with the British people, and we are now living with the consequences. Whilst Labour Ministers pretend everything is fine, just this week, two major retailers announced they were cutting thousands of jobs. They said it was precisely because of Labour’s economic mismanagement.

By the Government’s own analysis, their Employment Rights Bill will cost 50,000 jobs. That is now looking like an underestimate.

Rather than hitting ‘fat cat’ bosses, the reality is thousands of families will not have the security and freedom only a good job can provide. It seems it hasn’t occurred to Labour that, in their war on business, working people pay the price. They don’t get it because the Cabinet has a complete dearth of business experience. And failure is the outcome.

What takes it from economic incompetence to a slap in the face is that no one knew about the tax and borrowing horrors that were coming their way.

Before they got in to power, Labour promised not to raise taxes on working people, but they raised the only tax specifically linked to work. They also promised to be business friendly – but less than a third of businesses who backed them before the elections still do.

Strong growth means more money in people’s pockets, more job opportunities, greater investment in the UK and better public services.

But, because of the politically motivated choices made in Downing Street, that is the opposite of what is happening. It is no wonder that the majority of people think the country is going in the wrong direction.

We do not need more quick fixes, spending splurges and even more taxes. We need sensible, business-oriented decisions from this Labour Government.

This week, we are told to expect another ‘emergency reset’ from the Chancellor. A Chancellor badly out of her depth and who appears incapable of changing course. A Chancellor whose disastrous tenure is costing far too many of us far too much.