𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

A top finance boss has shredded Andy Burnham and John Healey’s economic strategy. Nigel Green, CEO of global financial advisory firm deVere Group, suggested after the Chancellor spoke in Coventry on Monday that the Government is saying much the same as Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves, despite a change of of Prime Minister. Mr Healey said a lot “while committing to almost nothing”, Mr Green told The Express, “and markets can smell that kind of speech a mile away”. Tax, for example, was a “glaring omission”, the expert added.

“Continuity is not a growth strategy,” Mr Green said. “Global capital doesn’t chase warm words about resilience. It chases governments with a plan, a deadline and the courage to be specific, and on Monday, Britain offered none of the three. Businesses don’t need good news every single week, but they cannot function in a fog. Batting away tax questions weeks before a Budget is a failure of leadership, and every day of silence is a day investors quietly shelve decisions rather than take a risk on this government.”

There also appears to be a “complete absence of a real growth plan”, Mr Green suggested.

But the most alarming omission was Mr Healey’s silence on the fiscal storm already battering the UK.

The Chancellor’s fiscal headroom has reportedly been roughly halved to £11.5billion from £23.6billion before his first Budget in October.

Gilt yields have also surged and debt interest payments are now projected to climb toward £137billion by 2030, larger than the entire education budget.

“A Chancellor who says nothing about a collapsing fiscal buffer right as bond markets are already nervous is projecting denial,” Mr Green said.

“Investors are left to fill in the blanks themselves, and when investors start guessing, they tend to guess on the side of caution, which means pulling money out rather than putting it in.

“Global investors do not reward hope, they reward clarity, and right now this government is offering plenty of the first and none of the second.”

Mr Healey promised during his speech to “draw a line” under rising costs for businesses, end legal blockages to building infrastructure and embrace technology as part of a push for growth.

He also vowed to control Government spending in his first major speech since taking over at the Treasury, but refused to rule out tax rises in the Budget.

“I dedicate myself to this mission as Chancellor to make Great Britain Growth Britain again with more investment, more innovation, and more jobs,” Mr Healey said.

“Let me be clear: I recognise that the cost of business – that’s energy bills, regulation burdens, planning constraints, labour costs – have grown since Covid, and I want to draw the line.

“Whether it is the cost of business or the cost of living, the only way we deal with these in the long term is growth.”