Speaking to Sky News earlier, exchequer secretary to the Treasury James Murray said the UK’s economy was in the worst condition since the Second World War – and blamed the Conservatives for mismanaging it.
Jeremy Hunt, the shadow chancellor, has defended his party’s record and claimed the Labour position is an attempt to lay the ground for tax raises.
Mr Hunt implemented a series of income tax cuts ahead of the election, with the implications for public spending unclear.
Speaking to the BBC, he said: “What is absolute nonsense is this business of the worst economic inheritance since the Second World War.
“You only need to look at the last time a government changed hands between parties in 2010. Compared to then, inflation is nearly half what it was. Then we had markets collapsing, now we have the fastest growth in the G7, we have unemployment at nearly half what it was then.
“It’s a very transformed picture, and I think the reason that she [the chancellor] is doing this is that she wants to lay the ground for tax rises.
“[It’s] perfectly legitimate for a new government to come in and say they want to spend more, tax more – every Labour government in history has done that – but [the chancellor] should have been honest about that before the election.”
The UK’s debt repayments soared in recent years due to expensive government borrowing during the pandemic, with high interest rates eating into public budgets.
It means the UK is sitting with the highest debt to GDP since the late 1950s when it was recovering from the war.
Mr Hunt argued that not raising public sector pay could avoid tax rises.
NHS waiting lists stayed high under the Conservative government as clinicians took industrial action following pay offers they found unacceptable.
There was similar disruption in other sectors like rail and teaching for the same reason.
Mr Murray told Sky News these implications needed to be considered when offering public sector pay deals.
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