Tory “chaos and economic irresponsibility” cost the government £58 billion in lost tax revenue last year alone, Rachel Reeves has revealed.
The new chancellor said 14 years of Conservative controversy, gaffes and scandals had prevented the UK economy from growing at the same rate of other leading nations.
In her first major speech today since taking on the role, Reeves will vow to “fix the foundations” of the economy to get it growing more quickly.
She will say: “Where governments have been unwilling to take the difficult decisions to deliver growth – or have waited too long to act – I will deliver. It is now a national mission. There is no time to waste.
“This morning I want to outline the first steps this new government has taken to fix the foundations of our economy, so we can rebuild Britain and make every part of our country better off.”
During the election campaign, Reeves and Keir Starmer repeatedly said that boosting economic growth would pay for Labour’s plans without the need to raise taxes or cut spending elsewhere.
But the Tories insisted there was a £38 billion black hole in Labour’s sums which would lead to working households paying £2,000 more in tax.
Speaking in central London this morning, the chancellor will add: “We face the legacy of fourteen years of chaos and economic irresponsibility.
“New Treasury analysis I requested over the weekend exposed the opportunities lost from this failure.
“Had the UK economy grown at the average rate of OECD economies since 2010, it would have been over £140 billion larger.
“This could have brought in an additional £58 billion in tax revenues last year alone to sustain our public services.
“It falls to this new government to fix the foundations.”