Today the Chancellor delivered the Spring Forecast, and sadly it revealed that Labour’s anti-business tax and spend policies are continuing to damage our economy.
Here’s three things we learnt:
Firstly, the Government claims that growth is its "central mission”, yet they are failing. Growth forecasts for 2026 have been almost halved. In March 2025, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast growth would be 1.9 per cent in 2026. Today, the OBR revised down growth for 2026 to 1.1 per cent.
Second, unemployment is forecast to be higher this year than during the pandemic. The number of people out of work is now expected to hit 1.9 million this year. That’s 400,000 more than when Labour entered office. And businesses are clear that much of this is as a result of Labour’s Jobs Tax and Employment Rights Act making work more expensive.
Third, the only answers they have are the same old Labour answers we know will fail - with plans to tax and spend even more. Compared to the position in the last Conservative budget, departmental spending on the plans Labour have previously set out will be almost £70 billion higher (in 2024-25 prices) in 2028-29. And at the same time, taxes are now set to peak at the highest level they’ve ever been at in our country’s history. Nothing was announced today to change this.
