The Tory leader says the impact of next week’s week’s Budget could be worse than the previous two
Kemi Badenoch (Image: Getty)
Kemi Badenoch will accuse Labour of relying on “fictional” spending cuts to plug the UK’s crippling financial deficit. The Conservative Leader will warn that John Healey’s debut Budget next week risks doing more damage to the country than Rachel Reeves’ two previous £70 billion tax bombshells.
She will accuse Andy Burnham’s party of attempting to pull off a “nothing to see here” Budget in a desperate attempt to hide the scale of the ongoing fiscal crisis. “Britain cannot afford to do as little as possible,” Mrs Badenoch is expected to say in a speech in central London.
Rachel Reeves (Image: Getty)
Andy Burnham (Image: Getty)
“Problems have caught up with us that we can no longer afford to run away from. First and foremost, that means living within our means.”
The Tory Leader will highlight that Britain’s 30-year gilt yields have surged above 6% – their highest level since 1998.
That means every single pound borrowed today will cost £2 to pay back in less than 12 years.
While global pressures from conflicts in Ukraine and Iran have pushed up interest rates worldwide, the UK is now paying more than 1% point more to borrow than Greece or Spain, and nearly two points more than Germany.
Mrs Badenoch will also hit out at International Monetary Fund praise for deficit reduction relies on spending cuts Labour will never actually deliver.
John Healey (Image: Getty)
Independent experts at the Institute for Fiscal Studies have already branded those projections a “work of fiction,” leaving a massive £35 billion black hole in departmental budgets.
Having already hiked public spending by over £100 billion in just over two years, Labour is now “taking out loans to pay the interest on our loans,” she will declare.
She will argue the Conservatives have identified £70 billion in concrete savings.
“We do not think it is fair to leave our children saddled with debts we were too idle or cowardly to pay,” she will add.
A Labour Party spokesperson said: “The Conservatives have zero credibility on the economy. After appointing the architect of the economy-crashing mini-Budget as her Shadow Chancellor, Kemi Badenoch should spare everyone the lecture, stop complaining about the IMF, and start apologising for the mess her party left behind.
“It’s the same old Tories – their sums don’t add up and they haven’t learned a thing.
“This Labour government has secured £500 billion of private investment for our country, the economy is growing faster than expected, and we’re giving families and business breathing space on the cost of living.”