Rishi Sunak came out of the benches fighting today as he reacted to Rachel Reeves budget.
The former Prime Minister and Chancellor outlined four key reasons he knows Rachel Reeves has ‘fiddled the figures’ to allow for her ‘capital spending spree.’
The current leader of the Conservative Party outlined his key reasons that question Rachel Reeves claims of a black hole in the economy.
Rishi Sunak outlined FOUR key reasons he is adamant that Labour is ‘fiddling the figures’
GB News
1) Inflation at 2 per cent
Rishi Sunak outlined that when the Tories left office inflation had returned to the Bank of England target of 2% proving that the economy was not in the state that the current Chancellor claims.
2) Mortgage lending
A sign of a good economy is boosted by the country’s mortgage lending rates. As of September 2024, the outstanding value of residential mortgage loans was £1,660.9 billion, a 0.4% increase from the previous quarter. Rishi added this to his evidence list.
3) Unemployment at a record low
When Rishi Sunak left office, unemployment levels were at year on year lows. As of October 2024, the unemployment rate in the United Kingdom is 4.0% for people aged 16 and over. This is a 0.4 percentage point decrease from the previous quarter. Another sign that the Tories did not leave the economy in the terrible state that Labour are claiming.
4) Second lowest debt in G7
Rishi Sunak questioned Rachel Reeves over her £40bn funding gap saying the Britain has the second lowest debt in the G7.
He said: “The Chancellor inherited lower borrowing than France, America, Italy and Japan, and the second lowest debt in the entire G7.
“So any which way you look at it, Labour’s claims about their inheritance are purely ludicrous. Yes. These are her choices. So stop blaming everyone else and take responsibility for theirs.”
He concluded: “Time and time again, we conservatives warned Labour would tax, borrow and spend far beyond what they were telling the country.
“And time and again they denied they had such plans. “But today the truth has come out. Proof that they plan to do this all along.
“Because, Madam Deputy Speaker, today’s budget sees the fiscal rules fiddled, borrowing, borrowing increased by billions of pounds, inflation busting handouts for the trade unions, Britain’s poorest pensioners squeezed welfare spending out of control and a spree of tax rises.
“They promised the working people of this country they would not do.”