Labour's inflation figures are 'worse than those being presented', Stride tells GB News

GB News

Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride has issued a stark warning about the UK economy, stating that inflation figures are "worse than presented" with the rate staying at 3.4 per cent from April to May.Speaking to GB News, Stride cautioned that the Government risks creating an economic "doom loop" if it implements tax rises in the autumn.FULL STORY HERE.

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00:00Chancellor Wooden looking for some better news this morning, but didn't quite come.

00:04And certainly, in terms of grocery prices, people are really, really feeling it.

00:09Yeah, I mean, it's getting really bad.

00:10And in fact, those figures are a little bit worse than you presented,

00:13because what has just happened is the figure for April has been revised down to 3.4%.

00:19So it's stayed at the same level. It hasn't come off a little bit.

00:22It's staying at the same level for April, May, as it were.

00:27But yes, it's increasing costs for people up and down the country.

00:31And it's all down to this government.

00:32They put taxes up, the national insurance costs up.

00:35Some of that got passed on by way of higher prices,

00:38because that's what employers typically do in that situation.

00:40And they've taxed and borrowed and spent a huge amount of money that has also increased inflation.

00:47And that's made higher interest rates for longer as well, hitting people with their mortgages too.

00:52The concern is, well, there's no wiggle room left.

00:54There's not that fiscal headroom left.

00:56We currently have the sound, potentially, of war bells across the Middle East with Iran.

01:02And if it were to be impacted by another crisis of that nature,

01:06it could be grim news for British consumers,

01:08because the government hasn't got the money left to absorb any kind of shock.

01:12That's absolutely right.

01:13So this idea of fiscal headroom, as economists call it,

01:16is basically the buffer that you deal with for if things get worse than you expected.

01:20That buffer that she had from the budget back in the autumn of last year,

01:24she blew entirely and more.

01:26She rebuilt it in the spring.

01:28But most economists are expecting that to have evaporated come the budget in the autumn.

01:33So what we're probably looking at in the autumn, I'm afraid, is tax rises,

01:36which gets you into this kind of doom loop.

01:38You know, as taxes are going up, the economy is slowing.

01:40Your headroom is disappearing.

01:43You go for more taxes, it slows the economy even more.

01:45And that's the vicious cycle.

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