Labour’s incompetence is a disaster for our economy. The latest figures show for the second month in a row. In 2022, when Labour were in Opposition, Rachel Reeves demanded an Emergency Budget over a -0.1 per cent dip in GDP. But now she is at the wheel, she has changed her tune. After inheriting the fastest growing economy in the G7, she has killed off growth and all she offers is spin. This is rank hypocrisy. Families and businesses deserve leadership, not double standards.
The latest official figures show manufacturing is down and retail sales are falling. Another major business survey this week, from the Institute of Chartered Accountants, showed business confidence is down yet again. This wasn’t inevitable. This isn’t a global trend or a pandemic hangover – it’s the direct result of choices made by this Labour government, and by this Chancellor. And the cost is being paid by working people and businesses up and down the country.
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Not a single senior member of the Labour frontbench has real-world business experience. Rachel Reeves has never run a business or created a job, and clearly has no idea how businesses actually work.
Having started businesses from the ground up – on both sides of the Atlantic – I get it. That matters because rebuilding confidence, growth and prosperity takes more than slogans. It takes experience, clarity, and courage. We Conservatives know what it takes to grow an economy because we’ve done it.
That’s not just bad for business, it’s bad for public services too. Every entrepreneur driven out of Britain by Labour’s tax raids leaves a hole in the public finances – money that should be going to the NHS, schools and frontline services.
Britain is now living beyond its means – spending more than we earn, borrowing more than we can afford. And working people are paying the price: higher costs, higher taxes, fewer opportunities.
Labour’s economic instincts haven’t changed. When faced with a problem, they default to tax more, borrow more, and hope growth somehow follows. But hope is not an economic strategy. And as the ONS data shows, growth is nowhere to be found.
We should be backing the makers – the people who build businesses, deliver services, and drive the economy forward. We need to reform welfare to reward work, cut waste to deliver value for the taxpayer, and offer up a low-tax, pro-growth economy that works for everyone
