Starmer goes after PM on slow UK economic growth
Sir Keir Starmer has attacked Boris Johnson for his record on the economy, after projections recently put the UK at the bottom of the G7 for economic growth.
The Labour leader also hit out at Johnson for “his choice to be the only leader in the G7 to raise taxes” post-Covid and for “burying his head in the sand” over the cost of living crisis.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) this month projected the UK would have the lowest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth and the highest inflation in the G7 by next year.
Starmer pointed out in Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) that “our growth is set to be slower than every G20 country except one – Russia” and that “our inflation is set to be double the rest of the G7” in a bid to dent Johnson’s credibility on managing the economy.
He said: “Why is [the Prime Minister] failing to manage the economy?”
Johnson pointed out that the UK had the fastest GDP growth in the G7 last year, however this was also after the country’s economy shrank by the most during Covid.
“Of course it is true there is a crisis of global inflation around the world, but this government is tackling it with all sorts of ways that you would expect,” he said.
“The facts are, as the IMF has said, that the UK came out of Covid faster than anybody else, that’s why we had the fastest growth in the G7 last year. We will return to being the fastest by 2024 and the fastest by 2025.”