Liz Truss slams Rachel Reeves Budget with scathing two-word attack | Politics | News

Liz Cage He dismissed suggestions that yesterday’s Budget was a response to the consequences of his own decisions as “false nonsense”.

The Chancellor, a former Tory prime minister, said: Rachel Reeveswas a “disaster” and the Labor Government’s first economic announcement was not a Budget for growth.

Ms Reeves’ choices will see the total tax burden reach 38.3% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2027-28, the highest record since 1948.

Despite Labour’s promise to protect “working people”, a £25.7bn increase in National Insurance (NI) contributions paid by employers is likely to depress wages and lead to job losses.

Labor claimed there was a £22bn “black hole” left in the public finances, but on Thursday the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) revealed a £9.5bn spending pressure.

Open Keir Starmer Claiming that Ms Truss’s mini-budget was responsible for the state of the public finances, the former prime minister said: “This is flawed nonsense and even the Bank of England said in a report this year that two-thirds of the market’s rise was due to their failure to regulate LDIs.”

“The point is that I was blamed and (former Chancellor) Kwasi Kwarteng was blamed because the whole economic establishment – and by that I mean the Bank of England, I mean the Office for Budget Responsibility – believes in these policies that are producing low growth and stagnation.”

Liability Based Investing (LDI) is a financial product sold to pension funds by asset managers who want to make sure they have enough money to pay retirees.

Following Ms Truss’s mini-budget, UK bond yields soared and pension funds soon struggled to find cash. By selling gilts, they created downward pressure on the bond market. The pressure eased when the Bank of England stepped in to buy £65 billion worth of gold.

Ms Truss’s financial announcement in September 2022 was blamed for triggering the meltdown in bond markets, but Bank of England researchers found that pension funds’ selling of risky products was also to blame for the crisis.

Former Prime Minister told Great Britain News: “Yes, Rachel Reeves is a disaster. This Budget is particularly bad. But let’s be honest, the direction of travel started a long time ago: higher taxes, higher regulations, more government spending, sky-high energy costs, no fracking, Net Zero All of that “It happened during the Conservative government.”

Ms Truss accused the Chancellor of treading on what was accelerating Britain’s “cycle of economic disaster”.

Asked if this was a budget for growth, Ms Truss said: “Obviously this is not a government budget for growth, it raises taxes to a higher level than they already are.

“This is already at a 70-year high. This takes them even higher. Even the OBR thinks this will be bad news for growth.”

Pointing to analysis by the Growth Commission, he said it showed the Budget would reduce growth by 3.4% over the next five years.

Ms Truss said: “The biggest thing that will dampen growth is the huge increase in employers’ National Insurance… This will mean more businesses going abroad, which is very bad news for growth.”

The former prime minister accused Labor of lying after the NI rise, adding: “This is the opposite of what they said they would do, which is to boost growth.

“That’s because they fundamentally don’t believe in free market capitalism. It’s a very socialist budget. It’s saying the only way we can get growth is to get the government to spend more money.”

He was asked on Thursday whether he preferred Ms Reeves’ Budget or Ms Truss’s mini-budget shadow Chancellor Jeremy Hunt He said: “I actually don’t like either of them.

“I was the person who reversed the decisions taken in the Mini Budget, but let me say this, at least Liz Truss wanted to grow the economy and said so openly.

“Yesterday we had a Budget where the Government’s official forecaster said the impact would be lower growth. That would mean fewer jobs, lower investment.”