Chancellor Rachel Reeves is betting big on public investment (Image: Getty)
Britain’s debt interest payments will soar by nearly £80billion as a result of Rachel Reeves’s “unsustainable and dishonest” decisions, Shadow Chancellor Sir Mel Stride has warned. Ms Reeves is accused of ramping up borrowing by £200billion compared with the previous Government’s plans.
Sir Mel said: “Rachel Reeves hasn’t turned on the spending taps – she’s recklessly opened the spending floodgates. Labour is on course to borrow an extra £200billion this Parliament, and shockingly, £80billion of that is just to cover the additional interest on the national debt.
“That’s not investment – it’s taxpayers’ money going down the drain. This is unsustainable, dishonest, and deeply irresponsible.
“Hardworking families will be left to pay the price.”
The Tories expect the annual debt interest bill in 2029-30 to be “a staggering £21billion higher compared to what Labour inherited”.
The spending review suggests council tax is on track to increase by 5% a year.
Sir Mel described this as a “stealth tax baked into Labour’s plans, pushed onto families without the honesty to admit it”.
He said: “This is a Chancellor who’s offloading the cost of her decisions onto taxpayers through the back door – and pretending nothing has changed.”
The Shadow Chancellor is concerned the “borrowing binge” leaves the country “dangerously exposed to future shocks”.
He said: “The current forecasts show the national debt continuing to rise every year, and even those depressing estimates assume the Chancellor can control spending over the coming years which she has so far totally failed to do. She will face growing pressure from her own colleagues and her recent record shows she will fold every time.”
A government source responded: “We will start listening to Mel Stride when he apologises for standing by while Liz Truss crashed the economy.”
Concern about the economy heightened last week when official figures showed gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 0.3% in April, marking the biggest contraction since October 2023. This came on the heels of Britain’s jobless rate surging to its highest level for nearly four years.
Keir Starmer jets off to Canada as Middle East chaos overshadows trade deal talks
Sir Keir Starmer is attending the G7 in Canada as conflict breaks out in the Middle East (Image: PA)
Sir Keir Starmer has just landed in Ottawa for trade talks with Canada’s newly elected Prime Minister Mark Carney, before heading to Calgary for this year’s G7 summit. The Prime Minister signalled hopes for a big trade deal with Canada, which is hoping to foster closer relationships with Europe following annexation threats by Donald Trump.
Arriving in the country’s capital, the Prime Minister said a new deal would boost UK-Canadian trade, which already represents £28 billion to Britain’s economy. It’s expected that the Prime Minister will tell Mr Carney that he is “open to going further” on free trade than currently permitted by existing treaties, branding it a huge opportunity for Britain’s economy. Speaking from Canada, Sir Keir said: “The interests of British citizens – delivering for working people – is what guides me throughout all my conversations with international leaders.”
“And everywhere I go, from the factory floor at Jaguar Land Rover to meeting submariners aboard a nuclear-powered submarine, I’m reminded of why that is the right approach.
“Because the decisions we make in government, whether at home or abroad, have profound impacts on the day-to-day lives of working people.
“And in these dangerous times, I am determined to forge a unique path to secure and renew Britain in an era of global instability.”
If achieved, it would be Sir Keir’s fourth major trade deal following the US, India and EU.
The official visit marks a further warming of relations between London and Ottawa, following King Charles’s visit last month for the state opening of Parliament.
His presence was seen as a major slap down of Donald Trump, who has taken to branding Canada as ‘America’s 51st state’.
The President’s actions also sparked a jaw-dropping April general election, in which the front-runner Conservative went from a 20-point lead to losing his seat in the space of four months, as Mark Carney capitalised on anger at the US president.
After meeting with Mr Carney Sir Keir will jet to Calgary for the annual G7 summit.
While the meeting had been intended to discuss security, the global economy, and Ukraine, this week’s explosive developments in the Middle East now threaten to overshadow events.
The Prime Minister will use the summit to urge restraint and de-escalation in the region, pushing for diplomatic solutions instead.
Speaking on the plane to Canada, Sir Keir said there will now be “intense discussions” at the G7, however couldn’t guarantee a unified resolution at the end of the high-stakes summit.
He told reporters: “In relation to what might happen at the end of the G7, I think there’s going to be so much intense discussion before we get there I will probably have to come back to you on that, because the G7 happens to be a good occasion, obviously, to have those face to face discussions.”
“But those discussions are going on anyway. That would have gone on in any event, and I’m expected to have a series of those discussions today into tomorrow. It is the number one thing that I do, as you would expect.”
He hinted that he is optimistic about a trade deal with Mark Carney, whom he has “known [for] a long time”.
“Some months ago I said the world is changing on trade and the economy, just as it is changing on defence and security and I think that means we need to be more securing our base at home and turbo charging what we are doing on the cost of living and at the same time reducing trade barriers with other countries.”
“I’ve been expressing that in my discussions with Mark Carney and he is in the same position.”
He will also press to keep up pressure on Vladimir Putin, in a week which marked one million Russian losses since the war in Ukraine began, a figure branded “staggering” by the Prime Minister.
Donald Trump will attended, though No. 10 is yet to confirm whether he will meet with Sir Keir.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has also been invited to attend by Mr Carney, as have Mexico, India, and Saudi Arabia, the latter of whom’s Crown Prince will not be attending.
