It’s only taken Keir a few months to make complete mess of UK – Reeves won’t fix it, Mel Stride tells Harry Cole on Talk

SIR Keir Starmer's Government has turned Britain into a “mess“ in just a few months, Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride has blasted.

The ex-Cabinet Minister hammered Labour's record, saying the country has rapidly spiralled into crisis since they took office.

Speaking to Flying Eze Political Editor Harry Cole on Talk, he warned unemployment is set to soar under Rachel Reeves' watch.

He raged: “The OBR actually says that net result of all the changes that they brought in, which includes scrapping the changes that we made, will actually mean less people into work, not just neutral.

“But actually unemployment going up as a consequence. And if you look at unemployment in those forecasts, it's going up this year, next year, the year after, not going down after that.”

Mr Stride also blasted the Chancellor for “talking down the economy”, adding: “They slapped all those taxes on businesses, they borrowed, and they're spending like it's the 1970s all over again, upward inflationary pressure, higher interest rates as a consequence.

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“And she ended up blowing all the headroom she had.”

He went on: “Unfortunately, it's only taken this Government eight months to make a complete mess of it.”

It comes as Brits are bracing for a raft of new tax hikes after growth forecasts were slashed – forcing Rachel Reeves into £14 billion of spending cuts.

GDP will go up by just one per cent this year, obliterating the government’s £9.9 billion financial cushion amid warnings of a fresh rise in inflation.

It significantly increases the likelihood of further spending cuts or tax hikes at the next Budget to stay within her “fiscal rules”.

Put to her on Times Radio that this was now inevitable, Ms Reeves this morning insisted: “No, it’s not.”;

But when pressed, she repeatedly declined to rule out more tax rises and spending cuts in the autumn.

Betting the house on driving growth, she said: “If we go further and faster on delivering economic growth with our planning reforms, with our pensions reforms, with our regulatory reforms, we can both grow the economy and have more money for our public services. And that is what I'm focused on.”;

In announcements at Wednesday's Spring Statement:

• No new tax rises: The Chancellor ruled out further tax hikes and pledged to crack down on tax avoidance, aiming to raise an extra £1billion.
• Growth downgraded for 2025: The OBR halved its GDP growth forecast for next year from 2% to just 1%.
• Growth boost from planning reforms: New housing policies expected to raise GDP by 0.6% over the next decade.
• Housebuilding surge: 1.3 million homes expected over five years, with construction hitting a 40-year high.
• £2.2billion extra for defence: Additional funding confirmed to help meet the 2.5% of GDP defence target.
• £400million Defence Innovation Fund: Backing new tech like drones and AI for the front line.
• Welfare shake-up: Targeted employment support and welfare reform to reduce benefit spending.
• Civil service cuts: New voluntary exit schemes and AI tools to shrink Government.

Ms Reeves is on the ropes after the Office for Budget Responsibility yesterday halved the UK’s annual growth forecast from 2 per cent to 1 per cent.

Britain’s spending watchdog also grimly predicted another 0.6 per cent blow to the economy this year if Donald Trump slaps the UK with 20 per cent tariffs next month.

They also warned the government’s plans to offer European style labour protections risks crippling business and will likely have a “net negative”; impact on growth that has not yet been fully war-gamed.

Last night the Employment Rights Bill that is still working through Parliament was branded “an unexploded bomb” under the economy that could yet knock the Treasury deep into the red.

In a withering assessment of the state of the nation’s finances the Office of Budget Responsibility warned it was a coin toss as to whether Reeves will have to hike taxes again in the autumn after last year’s crippling £40billion raid.

While the Chancellor blamed instability around the world, critics accused her of snuffing out growth with her high tax high spend splurge last year – with warnings she will come up short again in the Autumn.