OPINION
Gareth Davies (Image: DX)
The economy shrinking is another embarrassment for our Labour Government supposedly gunning for growth.
I want what’s best for the country, not to score party political points. So it’s hugely disappointing.
Especially as it’s ultimately working people paying the price.
Sadly this is the latest in a series of grim economic stats.
Labour Ministers try and point the finger at anyone other than themselves. Trump. Putin. The . Unique economic headwinds.
But the excuses are wearing thin, and the British people are not mugs. It won’t wash.
Facts don’t care about feelings.
And, whilst Reeves and Starmer try and bury their heads in the sand and pretend everything is fine, these facts are telling a very clear story. Labour is running the British economy into the ground.
It isn’t surprising to anyone outside of Reeves and Starmer’s bubble.
They have taken the bizarre approach of talking down the economy and given plenty of reasons for people not to invest in the UK.
All in the service of giving them political cover to raise taxes to record heights.
To anyone who has a basic grasp of economics, and hasn’t doctored their own CV, this is a deeply predictable outcome.
Labour Ministers refusing to face up to the consequences of their actions also shows is how out of touch this Labour government is.
Because it is working people that will pay the price of Labour’s economic illiteracy. People are getting poorer, but the empty slogans keep on rolling out of Number 10 Downing Street.
It may just be dawning on Reeves and Starmer that you can’t talk growth into existence. No matter how many times you say you want to “kickstart economic growth” in a “plan for change”, you can’t magic it into existence if you cross the street to pick a fight with businesses, drown them in red tape and hike up taxes.
Labour’s triple whammy of economic punishment.
Among other things Rachel Reeves said that were clearly not true during the general election, she said Labour would only have one budget a year. Now, she has one planned for two weeks’ time.
Make no mistake, this is an emergency budget. Labour have mismanaged the economy so badly, they are having to rip up their plans to avoid breaking their own fiscal rules.
The British people deserve so much better than this economic incompetence.
But sadly it’s in Labour’s DNA: swell the state, pay off the unions and raise taxes.
They must change course for the sake of the country.
The are the only ones making the case for businesses and working people. Labour’s emergency budget is their chance to do the same. I won’t hold my breath.