Rachel Reeves just blew up economy – Andy Burnham will be hopping mad | Personal Finance | Finance
Today, we learned that Britainโs national debt is growing at a faster pace than any country in the world, except Botswana. Yet instead of taking control, Reeves wants to borrow and spend even more. She cadged ยฃ24.3billion in April alone and is set to tap the bond markets for a staggering ยฃ140billion in total this financial year. Soon, total UK debt will smash through the ยฃ3trillion barrier. We are on the edge of the abyss. Any sensible government would scramble to balance the books. Not this one. Labour just wants to tax and spend on repeat.
Former IMF chief economist Ken Rogoff is urgently warning that unless Reeves gets a grip, Britain could end up going cap in hand to the International Monetary Fund all over again, just as Labour did in the 1970s. He said Britain faces a โmore than 50-50 chanceโ of a debt crisis by 2030. The humiliation would be unbearable. Even the Bank of England is warning of the threat.
Governor Andrew Bailey has said Britain risks a โvicious cycleโ of rising borrowing costs that could end in disaster. We already pay ยฃ100billion a year to service the interest on our debts. As the Iran war drives up inflation, that could climb dramatically.
If Burnham wins the Makerfield by-election on June 18, heโll go hell for leather to replace Keir Starmer as PM. But then what? The King of the North only has one plan, and it’s the same one Rachel Reeves had. Borrow more, tax more and spend more, until the IMF steps in. It didn’t work for her, and it certainly won’t work for him. Because there’s no money left. There never is under Labour.
Britain canโt keep borrowing. The bond markets wonโt allow it. And if Labour pushes taxes even higher, the IMF says growth could dry up altogether. The economy has already taken about as much fiscal punishment as it can stand. If Burnham canโt borrow and canโt tax more, then he canโt spend more either. And since that’s the only thing he wants to do, he won’t be able to do anything. He’ll be doomed even before he begins.
Of course, that’s his fault. He should have come up with a strategy, but hasn’t. But he won’t be happy at Reeves for spending all the money before he could get his hands on it. Burnham and Reeves will go down together, and it’ll serve them right. Unfortunately, these two financial incompetents will drag the rest of us down with them.
