‘Disappointment and disillusionment’ – Torridge MP slams Labour Budget

Torridge MP Sir Geoffrey Cox has been highly critical of the Budget, warning hard workers, savers and business owners ‘this Government is coming for you’.

Speaking after Chancellor Rachel Reeves presented her Budget on Wednesday (November 26) Sir Geoffrey said this was ‘the future under Labour’.

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The Budget was released an hour early online after a blunder from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), which forecast the UK economy will grow by 1.5% this year, upgraded from a 1% forecast in March.

But it also said the economy is now forecast to grow by 1.5% on average between 2026 and 2029, down from the previous estimate of 1.8%. Inflation is predicted to be 2% by 2027.

The Budget contained a number of tax-raising measures, as well as increases in welfare spending by removing the two-child benefits cap.

Sir Geoffrey, who also attended the protest by farmers in Westminster against the ‘farm family tax’ to increase inheritance tax on farms, said: “As I warned during the election last year, despite Labour’s promises, if you work hard and save, build businesses and provide employment, put aside for your retirement, or want to leave something to the next generation, this Government is coming for you.

“It will punish prudence, self-reliance and aspiration to subsidise feckless and unsustainable increases in state spending on welfare, which it knows it must control, but has not the courage to do so.

“Today, with the economy groaning under the burdens the Chancellor has heaped on it in just 16 short months, the writing is on the wall and we have seen the future under Labour.

“As the OBR tells us, over the Parliament, productivity and growth will be down, inflation will be up and GDP will be down as taxes and debt spiral.

“This is the Government that promised growth and change, but has delivered disappointment and disillusionment in equal measure, while the only thing it has changed is its promises.”