Presenter Wilfred Frost skewered a Tory frontbencher this morning when he claimed Labour inherited a good economic situation from the Conservatives.
Despite promising growth, the government is currently grappling with high borrowing costs, climbing inflation and worries over the pound after it dropped to its lowest value against the dollar since November 2023.
Labour have been quick to blame it all on their predecessors and the “black hole” the Tories left in the public finances, but the Conservatives have flat out rejected such a claim – and suggest it’s all down to chancellor Rachel Reeves.
The shadow financial secretary Gareth Davies told Sky News this morning: “She inherited the fastest [growing] economy in the G7, 2% inflation, debt was under control, we had 800 jobs created over the last government [per day].
“So it’s not true to say that she inherited this terrible situation. She actually made it worse.”
But Frost hit back: “I must say, I find it tedious when the government continues to talk about the economic inheritance when we are now seven or eight months into their time.
“I think it’s even more rich to come here and suggest the economic inheritance was strong.
“Yes the economy was the fastest [growing] in the G7 based on the prior two quarters. ”
But, Frost continued: “For the first time – in probably your entire time in office it was not fastest growing in the G7. In fact, lagged pretty extensively the US throughout the entire 14 years.
“And on the tax burden, it was highest since World War 2, and on the debt level, which you said was under control, was the highest on record, ticking up to 122% of GDP.
“I just have to push back on this – do you accept that, all factors considered, the economic inheritance was not good?”
“It was a lot better than it is today,” Davies said, before pointing to the additional strain from Covid and the Ukraine war.
The frontbencher added: “Growth was predicted to be significantly better than it is to be under this Labour government and we did halve the deficit since 2010, since we came in.”
He said that he was not going to “pretend it was all perfect” but that the Tories “were turning it around”.
“I just feel it was wrong for Labour to suggest it was all so dire.”