Reeves says Britain trapped in cycle of ‘decline’ as UK falls into recession – reside
Britain is trapped in a cycle of decline and Rishi Sunak’s pledges to spice up the financial system at the moment are “in tatters”, Labour’s shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has warned, because the UK fell into recession.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed on Thursday a 0.3 per cent decline in gross home product (GDP) between October and December 2023.
The gloomy official figures imply the financial system entered a technical recession, as outlined by two or extra quarters in a row of falling GDP, for the primary time since amid the pandemic within the first half of 2020.
The information offers a blow to the prime minister, who has promised to develop the financial system as one in every of his 5 priorities, particularly after most economists had been solely forecasting a 0.1 per cent decline in GDP.
In feedback Labour advised had been “out of touch”, chancellor Jeremy Hunt stated low financial development is “not a surprise”, however added that the UK should “stick to the plan – cutting taxes on work and business to build a stronger economy” regardless of robust occasions for a lot of households.
Rachel Reeves insists Labour’s plans to develop financial system differ considerably from authorities’s
Rachel Reeves rejected options that Labour’s financial plans to develop the financial system weren’t a lot completely different from the federal government’s.
Asked at a press convention concerning the plans, the shadow chancellor stated: “I reject entirely that there is little difference between what Labour and the Conservatives offer.
“We have got a comprehensive plan for growth that has been drawn up with business.”
She pointed to planning reforms, in addition to plans to spend money on a £7.3bn nationwide wealth fund, and new publicly owned power firm, Great British Energy, among the many steps Labour had set out in its plans.
Public companies ‘on their knees’, says Rachel Reeves
Labour’s Rachel Reeves stated public companies are “on their knees” and wish an instantaneous injection of money.
The shadow chancellor stated: “I do recognise that our public services are under huge pressure – unlike perhaps the Conservatives do – which is why I said there does need to be an immediate injection of cash into our public services.”
She added: “If our economy had grown at the rate of other OECD countries these last 14 years, our economy would be £150bn bigger, worth £5,000 for every family in the UK and we would have tens of billions of pounds of additional tax receipts which we would be able to invest in our public services.
“That’s why it’s so important that we grow our economy.”
Tory former chancellor says room for tax cuts in Budget
Tory former chancellor Lord Lamont stated he thought there was room for tax cuts within the March Budget.
He instructed BBC Radio 4’s World at One: “I do think tax cuts have to be responsible. I think there is probably some headroom that has been created by very strong growth in tax revenues, particularly as a result of the freezing of the tax thresholds for such a long period.
“There may be some headroom. I think looking longer term though, any tax cuts have to be matched by tight control of public spending, probably financed by reductions in public spending.”
On the outlook for the UK after it slipped into recession, Lord Lamont stated: “I think people ought to be realistic about this. We have an almost perfect storm. We are coming through it, I think there is light at the end of the tunnel now and we just need to hold our nerve.”
What does Britain being in a recession imply?
While a extreme recession sometimes causes unemployment to rise, Britain’s technical recession serves extra as an indicator of the strain households and companies are already beneath – and as a blow to the federal government’s guarantees to spice up financial development.
The gloomy financial information can also be prone to ramp up strain on the Bank of England to begin reducing rates of interest from their 14-year excessive of 5.25 per cent, given the risk to the broader financial system from painfully excessive borrowing prices.
You can learn extra about what the most recent financial information means beneath:
Reeves defends Starmer’s dealing with of antisemitism row
Rachel Reeves has defended Keir Starmer’s dealing with of the antisemitism row that engulfed Labour this week, saying he had not let her down.
The senior frontbencher stated Labour would have taken motion over feedback made by Azhar Ali and Graham Jones “sooner” if it had recognized about them and the get together had intervened “swiftly”.
She additionally instructed a press convention in central London: “I only returned to the shadow cabinet because I was sure of Keir Starmer’s commitment to that (rooting out antisemitism) and he hasn’t let me down, he hasn’t let the Jewish community down, and it is right that both of them have been suspended.
“In terms of the vetting procedure, my understanding is that this was a private meeting, not a Labour Party meeting, and the recording was released much later.
“Obviously if we’d have known about these things we would have taken action sooner.
“We can’t see everything everywhere, but when we do see evidence of antisemitism, we act swiftly to ensure the highest standards and rightly so amongst our MPs and amongst our parliamentary candidates.”
Recession figures ‘don’t paint true image of struggling’ in UK, poverty campaigner warns
Simon Francis, co-ordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, stated of the brand new gas poverty figures: “Even these terrible figures don’t paint the true picture of the suffering in households across the UK.
“They exclude millions of homes in certain energy performance categories and also don’t include many people who actually get a Warm Home Discount to help with their bills.
“The numbers of households paying more than 10 per cent of their income on energy is truly shocking, far exceeding previous estimates.”
And he stated: “The reality is that household energy debt is now at record levels, millions of people are living in cold, damp homes and children are suffering in mouldy conditions.
“The wider impact of high energy bills is also clear to see with households having to cut back on spending so much that the UK has now entered a recession.”
Hunt says his Budget will concentrate on ‘prioritising economic growth’ – after fall into recession
Jeremy Hunt has insisted his upcoming Budget will likely be centered on “prioritising economic growth”, after being questioned about rumours he may minimize public sector spending to fund decrease taxes, as the federal government seeks to garner political favour with voters forward of a basic election.
Asked concerning the stories by Sky News, Mr Hunt stated he wouldn’t break with conference and communicate concerning the Budget within the weeks previous it.
But the chancellor did trace at his choice for tax cuts, suggesting that international locations with “lighter taxes” did “tend to grow faster”.
He added: “But I would only cut taxes in a way that was responsible, and I certainly wouldn’t do anything that fuelled inflation just when we are starting to have some success in bringing down inflation.”
UK is ‘most certainly’ in a recession, says shadow chancellor
Rachel Reeves stated the UK was “most certainly” going through a recession, after makes an attempt to minimize fears from the chancellor.
At a press convention, Labour’s shadow chancellor stated: “These were worse numbers than economists were predicting. This is a recession.
“But we didn’t need to get these numbers for us to know that families are struggling through an enormous cost of living crisis and businesses are struggling as well.
“As [former Marks and Spencer chair] Stuart Rose said on the radio this morning, if it quacks like a recession, it is a recession and this is most certainly a recession.”
Reeves accuses Jeremy Hunt of ‘dangerous’ hints on his upcoming Budget
Labour’s shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has accused Jeremy Hunt of dropping “dangerous” hints over his upcoming Budget.
Ms Reeves stated: “I find it extraordinary that the chancellor is providing a running commentary on his own budget”.
She known as it “dangerous and very misguided” and urged him to cease, warning he was creating “uncertainty we … don’t need”.
Rachel Reeves: ‘Does anything in UK work better since Tories came to power?’
At a press convention on right now’s financial system figures, shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves appeared to replace the outdated political query requested earlier than elections – do you’re feeling higher off than 5 years in the past?
Today she requested: “Does anything in country work better than when the Conservatives came to power 14 years ago?”
Reeves additionally rejected the concept that the recession is a consequence of getting inflation beneath management.
“I don’t buy this argument that you need a recession to get inflation down”, she stated. “Other countries are doing this an awful lot better than we are in the UK”