Former Tory minister Chris Philp just claimed Labour inherited a “very strong economic legacy” from his government.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today confirmed inflation stayed steady at its target rate of 2% last month.
The news has sparked hope that the Bank of England could finally bring down interest rates from its 16-year high of 5.25%.
This would be welcomed by the new Labour government – but, according to Philp, it is not something they can take credit for.
Now the shadow leader of the House of Commons, Philp told Sky News: “There is no way [chancellor] Rachel Reeves can possibly claim the economy is not in good shape.
“We’ve got growth that is top of the G7.”
According to Reuters, the UK is actually seen as one of the countries with slower growth in the group.
Philp added: “Unemployment is half what it was under the previous Labour government, it’s very low.”
Unemployment figures have changed significantly since the pandemic, as many working-age people are no longer looking for jobs – meaning they are not classed as unemployed.
The former minister continued: “Inflation has hit target, it has stayed on target, it’s lower than the Eurozone, it’s lower than the USA.”
It’s worth pointing out that the fall in inflation comes after the cost of living crisis, which began under the Conservative government in 2021 and which saw prices climb by a 45-year high of 11.1%.
The UK also fell into a shallow recession – two consecutive quarters of negative growth – at the end of 2023.
While ex-PM Rishi Sunak did vow to halve inflation by the end of 2023, only changes to interest rates can do so effectively – and that’s a lever controlled by the Bank of England.
Sunak chose to call an election hours after it was confirmed inflation had dropped to 2.3% in May, but still ended up facing a dismal set of election results.
Philp concluded: “The new government has a very strong economic legacy it is inheriting and there is certainly no basis whatsoever for Rachel Reeves to claim she needs to put through sneaky tax rises.”
He appeared to forget how Liz Truss’s mini-Budget – which was less than two years ago – ended up sending the markets into turmoil and the pound into decline.