LABOUR have been warned that their “economic plans are not working” – after it emerged the official growth rate was set to be halved for this year.
The Office for Budget Responsibility, the public spending watchdog, will cut the expected growth rate from 2% to just 1% for 2025, The Telegraph reports.
The SNP said it would be a “further embarrassment” for embattled Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who looks set to unveil billions of pounds of spending cuts next week when she delivers the Spring Statement.
She has committed to self-imposed spending rules which require debt to fall as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) and public sector borrowing soared to £10.7 billion last month.
SNP MSP Kenneth Gibson (below), convener of Holyrood’s Finance Committee, told The National that Labour had failed to deliver on their flagship election pledge to boost growth.
He said: “Labour promised to kickstart economic growth but the UK economy has flatlined since they came to power. This latest forecast will be a further embarrassment for the Chancellor and show that her economic plans are not working.
“Reckless decisions such as hiking employer National Insurance Contribution rates have undermined business confidence, hit investment in jobs and will hit workers who will pay the cost through lower wages.
“With the Chancellor set to announce further swingeing cuts in next week’s Spring Statement, it is clear that Labour have learned nothing from 14 disastrous years of the Tories mismanaging the economy.”
Gibson added: “In contrast, under John Swinney’s leadership, the SNP has listened to businesses' concerns and made economic growth one of its government’s key priorities and has delivered a budget which sets out transformative investment proposals to grow Scotland’s economy.”
The UK Government was approached for comment.
