Tag Archives: helen maguire

• GDP figures: Chancellor’s claims at spending review have not “survived contact with reality”
• Spending review: Over £4.5 billion of “hidden” cuts to departments could be avoided with better UK-EU trade deal
• Reeves must rule out tax rises for families and small businesses, say Lib Dems
• AUKUS: Trump move to bring submarine deal under review throws “grenade” into security partnership

GDP figures: Chancellor’s claims at spending review have not “survived contact with reality”

Responding to GDP falling by 0.3% in April, the first month of figures since the employers’ national insurance rise came into effect and Trump’s tariffs came into effect, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said:

At the spending review yesterday the Chancellor suggested that the country was on the up but today this claim has not survived contact with reality.

Today’s figures should be a wake up call for the Government which has so far refused to listen to the small businesses struggling to cope with the jobs tax, worried that our high streets will be completely hollowed out and that our hospitality sector is hanging by a thread.

To tackle Trump’s tariffs, Ministers must stop cowering in the corner and get on with building an economic coalition of the willing with our European and Commonwealth neighbours.

It’s time for the Government to get serious, scrap their damaging jobs tax and go for growth with a bespoke UK-EU Customs Union that will raise billions to re-build our public services.

Spending review: Over £4.5 billion of “hidden” cuts to departments could be avoided with better UK-EU trade deal

Government departments are facing real-terms cuts of £4.6 billion by 2028-29, Liberal Democrat analysis of the Spending Review has revealed.

The Liberal Democrats said these “painful cuts” could be avoided by boosting growth, including through a better UK-EU trade deal that could boost public finances by around £25 billion a year.

Some departments will see significant cuts over the spending review period. The Foreign Office, Home Office and Department for Transport are all expected to be hit with real-terms cuts of over £1 billion. DEFRA will also see a £355 million real-terms cut over three years.

The Liberal Democrats said that the spending review will see public services already stretched to breaking point be expected to endure another round of painful cuts.

The party said that the Government would not have to make these choices if it got a better trade deal with the EU and moved to negotiating a bespoke UK-EU Customs Union. Previous analysis has found that a better deal even within the Government’s own red lines could boost GDP by 2.2% raising £25 billion a year in extra revenue for the Exchequer.

Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson, Daisy Cooper MP said:

Hidden in the small print of the spending review are painful cuts to public spending, with funding for social care and our police being stretched to breaking point.

We cannot afford to wait another decade for the government to fix social care while patients are treated in hospital corridors and elderly people wait for months on end for a care home place.

The Chancellor would not have to make these difficult choices if she got serious about going for growth, got a better trade deal with the EU and cut red tape for British businesses.

That is the best way to boost our economy, put more money into people’s pockets and rebuild our public services.