The Chancellor has been warned she could make a “catastrophic” mistake on the Halloween Budget.
The former Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has warned that tax cuts could “destroy” the economy growing and the £22 billion black hole Rachel Reeves makes reference to is “nonsense.”
Speaking at the Conservative Party’s conference in Birmingham Hunt said, “They will get worse if Labour makes catastrophic mistakes in the budget and hikes up tax in a way that destroys growth.
“I think one of the biggest lies we’ve had since Labour came to office is this nonsense about having the worst economic inheritance since the Second World War.”
The former Tory Chancellor said there has been no independent economist to support government’s view on Reeve’s economic outlook.
Hunt told delegates, “You don’t have to take my word for it, I mean just read this week’s Economist where there’s an article saying that (Reeves) could have actually not have a black hole of £22 billion but a surplus of £39 billion.”
The Shadow Chancellor added, “My worry is that Labour believes its own propaganda and starts taking a whole series of decisions, particularly on things like Capital Gains Tax (CGT), which have a massive impact on deterring the investment in the economy that we really need.
“Even the Labour Party don’t believe it, otherwise we wouldn’t be having this massive row over the winter fuel allowance.”
Hunt added, “When it comes to the big decisions, we need to secure our economic growth, I think people are beginning to wonder whether Labour actually has a plan at all, because we’ve had absolutely nothing in the 12 weeks that they’ve been in office.”
Last week during the Labour annual conference in Liverpool Reeves warned there are some tough choices to make at this coming autumn budget.
The Chancellor said, “A £22 billion black hole which, if not tackled now, will pose risks for years to come.
That included more than £6billion overspend on the asylum system including their failed Rwanda policy, almost £3billion on rail projects, the nation’s reserve intended for genuine emergencies set to be spent three times over only three months into the financial year.
“They were reckless. They were irresponsible. And they acted in that way, not because they believed it was right for our country, but because they believed it might rescue their party from defeat.”
Last week Sir Keir Starmer said that the Chancellor has been forced to make “difficult decisions” on tax and welfare spending, which comes as Labour is being slammed for their “cruel” cuts to the winter fuel payment by restricting it for those on pension credit.
Starmer told the Observer, “We’ve got £22billion to find and there are no easy decisions when you’ve got £22billion to find… We couldn’t pretend it’s not there… That means really difficult decisions.”
The Labour leader added, “I’m acutely aware that our public services are on their knees, and there will always be some that say there’s an argument for deep cuts … I ran a public service.
I know what cuts feel like. And I know that a lot of them are cut to the bone. And therefore we have got to make sure that our public services are functioning properly.”
