The Chancellor’s strict adherence to outdated fiscal rules is being blasted by critics as new figures show the Treasury’s borrowing has already shattered official forecasts.
According to the Office for National Statistics, borrowing for the last financial year hit £151.9 billion.
That’s £14.6 billion more than expected by the Office for Budget Responsibility.
It’s also £20.7 billion more than the previous year’s total.
The figures cast serious doubt on Labour’s economic strategy, with predictions mounting of fresh tax hikes and public spending cuts in the autumn budget.
SNP economy spokesperson Dave Doogan MP says the situation exposes the Labour Party’s unwillingness to break free from the ‘Tory fiscal straitjacket’ they’ve voluntarily slipped into.
He warned that unless Labour ditches these rules, they are actively choosing austerity and flirting with recession.
Mr Doogan said the Chancellor’s budget, announced just weeks ago, is already irrelevant in the face of downgraded growth and ballooning debt.
The International Monetary Fund this week cut its UK growth forecast for 2025 from 1.6% to just 1.1%.
This backdrop of gloom is fuelling fears that Labour will double down on their commitment to so-called fiscal discipline at the expense of working people.
Doogan accused the Labour leadership of hiding behind slogans while ignoring the warning lights flashing on the dashboard of the economy.
He said their refusal to pivot from Tory-era policies shows a dangerous rigidity that puts the country at risk.
Labour’s National Insurance rise is already hitting businesses hard, with the full pain yet to be felt across the economy.
Doogan says that the party’s failure to seek closer EU ties or protect the economy from Brexit fallout shows how little they’ve learned from recent crises.
He claimed Scotland is being dragged along by a Westminster government that doesn’t represent its needs or ambitions.
He added that for Scots, the path to prosperity now clearly lies in a European future, not a broken Westminster system.
The message from the SNP is simple – change course or prepare for another grim cycle of cuts and stagnation.
And unless the Chancellor accepts that her rules are already wrecked, the financial fiction at the heart of Labour’s budget will soon become a hard economic truth for millions.
