Reeves said Brexit is partly to blame for the estimated £50bn blackhole in the economy that she is likely going to have to address at her autumn budget.
After successive Tory leaders failed to acknowledge the disastrous economic impact Brexit has had on the UK economy, the Labour government had admitted that the decision to leave the EU is one of the main reasons behind the UK’s sluggish economic growth.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to deliver the budget next month, and still needs to find the money to plug a fiscal black hole worth around £20bn in the country’s finances.
Earlier forecasts from today by the IMF predicted that the UK is set to be second-fastest growing G7 economy, however economic growth has remained sluggish.
Speaking to Sky News on Wednesday morning, Reeves said Brexit is partly to blame for the estimated £50bn blackhole in the economy that she is likely going to have to address at her autumn budget.
She said: “The Office for Budget Responsibility who provide the independent forecasts for government, they have consistently over estimated our productivity”.
Asked if this was because of Brexit, she replied: “Austerity, Brexit and the ongoing impact of Liz Truss’ mini-budget all of those things have weighed heavily on the UK economy. Already people thought the UK economy would be 4% smaller because of Brexit now of course we are undoing some of that damage because of the deal we did the EU earlier this year but there is no doubting that the impact of Brexit is severe and long-lasting.”
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
Left Foot Forward doesn’t have the backing of big business or billionaires. We rely on the kind and generous support of ordinary people like you.
You can support hard-hitting journalism that holds the right to account, provides a forum for debate among progressives, and covers the stories the rest of the media ignore. Donate today.
