Chancellor Rachel Reeves is on a mission to spur on growth (Image: Getty)
MPs have slammed Rachel Reeves’s “blunder Budget” after the UK’s economic forecast was slashed amid a mounting trade war.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) cut its predictions for UK growth to 1.4% in 2025 and 1.2% in 2026, down from 1.7% and 1.3% in its previous predictions. The downgrades come as businesses braces for the impact of the Chancellor’s £40billion tax raid from next month and as the world reels from ’s tariffs.
Reform’s MP said: “More than ever it’s clear that Rachel Reeves’s blunder Budget has been a disaster for the UK economy. Higher taxes and plummeting business confidence is a for economic disaster and we’re seeing this plainly in today’s OECD figures.”
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For the world economy, the OECD said growth would slow from 3.2% in 2024 to 3.1% in 2025 and 3% in 2026, down from 3.3% previously forecast for both years, largely as a result of trade tensions sparked by US President .
Canada and Mexico have seen the biggest blow to their growth forecasts after Mr Trump’s move to impose harsh tariffs on imports from the countries, which were the first to be penalised, alongside China.
In the UK, it held its predictions for inflation at 2.7% this year and 2.3% in 2026.
Mel Stride MP, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, said: “It should come as no surprise that the UK’s growth forecasts have been downgraded after Labour has trashed the economy.
“Things are set to get tougher, with Labour’s jobs tax lurking on the horizon. With nine days to go until Labour’s emergency budget, the warning lights are flashing red.
“This is the latest embarrassment for after he made growth his number one mission.”
Liberal Democrat Treasury spokeswoman MP warned the Chancellor cannot ignore this “steady drumbeat of economic misery” any longer.
She added: “Trump’s senseless tariffs and the Government’s own economic policies are acting as an anchor on any meaningful growth.
“At the Spring Statement, Rachel Reeves cannot bury her head in the sand. She must admit that her Budget has failed to break from the years of Conservative economic vandalism. The Chancellor must change course by first scrapping her growth-crushing jobs tax which is about to hammer small businesses, and second, by embracing the idea of a bespoke UK-EU Customs Union which would unleash growth.
“Only then will we see the growth needed to rebuild our public services and properly protect family finances.”
Ms Reeves said the report, released on Monday, shows the world is changing, and increased global headwinds such as trade uncertainty are being felt across the board.
She added: “A changing world means Britain must change too, and we are delivering a new era of stability, security and renewal, to protect working people and keep our country safe.”
The Chancellor, who will do her spring statement next week, said this would mean Britain can “better respond to global uncertainty”.