On Tuesday, the Chancellor delivered her Spring Statement.
Richard Fuller MP, Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury said:
The Chancellor's two budgets to date have had a devastating effect on the economy, especially on the life chances of young people who are seeing their job opportunities shrink at an alarming rate as a direct consequence of the Chancellor's attacks on business through the Jobs Tax and now the Employment Rights Act.
For a government that was elected on a promise of driving growth, we have seen a litany of anti-business, anti-aspiration, anti-growth measures. The Chancellor and Prime Minister have shown no signs that they have even begun to recognise, let alone grasp, the tough decisions needed to get the economy back on track.
In her Spring Statement, the Chancellor claimed Labour have the ‘right economic plan’ – but this should have been the moment to change course. Economic growth has halved for the year, unemployment is forecast to be higher than during the pandemic at 5.3 per cent and welfare spending is up by £18 billion this year and expected to reach £406.9 billion in 2030-31.
On Tuesday, the Labour Government should have cut welfare spending and ended their tax assault on businesses to get Britain working again but they are too weak to stand up to their backbenchers.
Labour must also commit to spending 3 per cent of GDP on defence by the end of this Parliament. The Chancellor could have done this at the Spring Statement but instead, she doubled down on giving more money for welfare. Labour needs to hurry up and publish their overdue Defence Investment Plan so that the government can buy military equipment needed to keep the British people safe.
