Britain is a great country with fantastic strengths.
But it has been held back by 12 years of Tory Government. And today’s Autumn Statement has done nothing to change that.
It didn’t have to be this way.
The Covid pandemic and war in Ukraine have hit us hard. But Britain’s problems started well before they struck.
Our economy has grown by an average of 1.4% under the Tories, compared to 2.1% in the Labour years before that.
And under Sunak and Hunt, we aren’t recovering - we are heading for a recession.
What was clear today is that they have no plan to deliver growth.
And they are expecting ordinary people to pay the price of that – with stealth taxes on working people, and tax breaks for the banks.
The Tories are like pickpockets, targeting the purses and wallets of working people across the country.
They don’t understand that this is about people’s lives and livelihoods.
It’s about being able to pay the mortgage, do the food shop, and pay the bills.
Make no mistake – the Tories have made clear choices. The clearest of them all - that working people will pick up the bill for Tories crashing the economy.
Where was the reverse of the plan to lift the cap on bankers bonuses? Where was the clamp-down on non-doms? Where was the closing of loopholes on private equity fund managers?
The only way out of this is with a serious long-term plan to get our economy growing again – powered by the talent and effort of millions of working people and thousands of businesses.
That’s why Labour will create a fairer, greener, and more dynamic economy, creating jobs across every part of the country in homegrown renewables, green hydrogen, and carbon capture and storage.
And we will properly fix business rates so that small businesses and our high streets thrive again, and ensure Britain is the best place in the world to start and grow a business.
After everything we heard yesterday, and after 12 long years, the only conclusion we can come to is this - Britain can no longer afford a Conservative government.
