Rachel Reeves needs scapegoat as Budget implodes – can’t blame Farage | Personal Finance | Finance
Not that you’d know by listening to Rachel Reeves. Ahead of the £30bn Budget tax blitz on 26 November, he is attacking in every direction, desperate to find someone else to blame.
It’s a natural instinct. Nobody wants to carry the box even if it is their job. It is much easier to scapegoat others. Politicians tend to do this, especially this.
He began his term by placing responsibility for his economic legacy on the Conservative Party. After 14 years of useless Tory rule, he had a clear goal.
He was being cagey though, claiming he didn’t discover the supposed £22bn “black hole” until after the election. The Institute for Fiscal Studies called him out for this, saying the shortfall was “obvious to anyone who dares to look.”
Reeves was still using it to justify last year’s massive Budget tax raid, which stifled growth and doubled the deficit to more than £40bn.
This is clearly up to him. But he refuses to take any blame and instead looks for new scapegoats.
He still blames the Tories but voters don’t care about them anymore. So he turns on someone they like, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage.
This is a bit of a big step considering he has never held office, made a budget, or spent a dime of public money. But he still gives it a chance.
Considering the scale of today’s disaster, two scapegoats are actually not enough. Luckily, Reeves has a third.
He likes to blame the “global winds”. What he actually means is Donald Trump’s trade tariffs, but he can’t say it out loud.
Yes, the world economy is stagnant, but this claim also has a flaw. Because under Reeves, the UK is in worse shape than anyone else.
Today we learned that consumer price inflation remained at 3.8% in September, the highest level in the G7.
So who is responsible for this? Could this be Rachel Reeves, whose £25bn Budget employment levy is passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices?
Reeves further increased inflation after the election by making huge increases in public sector wages and increasing the minimum wage by an inflation-busting 6.7%. Nigel Farage did none of this. He did it.
The IMF predicts the UK economy will grow by just 0.5 per cent next year, the slowest growth in the G7.
Is Farage to blame? No. The culprit was the Labor Chancellor, whose tax and spending profligacy was crushing growth, destroying businesses and crushing consumer confidence.
In another blow, Britain now faces the highest borrowing costs in the Western world. Is this up to Farage? No, this is about the incumbent Chancellor borrowing another £20bn in September, increasing the national debt and putting pressure on future taxpayers.
Bond markets and international investors are not fooled by Reeves’ desperate search for a scapegoat. They know exactly who is responsible for Britain’s looming financial crisis.
The Chancellor lost control of the UK finances, leaving the UK in a uniquely vulnerable position.
Nigel Farage did not do this. Brexit did not do this. Rachel Reeves did it. And given he is the most unpopular Chancellor ever, voters clearly agree.
