Misery Smorgasbord

Kemi Badenoch criticised Rachel Reeves as the ‘country’s worst Chancellor’ for the chaotic recent Budget, and the Conservative leader criticised the Chancellor’s handling of leaks and U-turns in a strong Commons performance.

Ms Badenoch criticised Labour’s economic plan, labelling it a ‘Budget for Benefit Street’ due to increased taxes on houses, cars, and pensions.

To cheers from the Tory back benches, she said that Ms Reeves ‘will go down as the country’s worst ever Chancellor’, as she described her speech as an ‘exercise in self-delusion’.

‘If she had any decency, she would resign,’ she told the Commons.

The Conservative leader said that the Chancellor has ‘chosen to put up tax after tax, after tax’, with the Office for Budget Responsibility showing that the tax-to-GDP ratio is set to increase to a post-war high of 38.3 per cent of GDP in 2030-31.

Ms Badenoch told the Commons: ‘Taxes on workers, taxes on savers, taxes on pensions, taxes on investors, taxes on homes, holidays, cars, I think even milkshakes, taxes on anyone doing the right thing.

‘She and this Government have lost what little credibility they have left, and no one will ever trust her again.’

Ms Badenoch said that ‘Labour have lost control of welfare spending’ and dubbed it a ‘Budget for Benefit Street’, with spending on sickness and disability benefits set to jump to £109 billion by 2030-31 in a move that would see spending on Britain’s welfare state surpass £400 billion.

‘The Labour Party should be renamed the Welfare Party,’ she joked.

The Tory leader said the Budget can be ‘summed up in one sentence’, that ‘Labour are hiking taxes to pay for welfare’.

She added: ‘This is Labour’s Britain… People who work hard and save hard to buy their homes get taxed more, while those who don’t work, who in some cases refuse to work, get their accommodation paid for by taxpayers.

‘To top it all off, because taxing your home, your car, your savings and your pension wasn’t enough. She has, by her own admission, broken her manifesto promise on income tax.’

In an acerbic speech, Ms Badenoch dubbed the Chancellor and Prime Minister ‘Laurel and Foolhardy’ and repeatedly hit back at Ms Reeves’ claims that criticism of her Budget is ‘sexist’.

She added: ‘People out there aren’t complaining because she’s female, they’re complaining because she is utterly incompetent.

‘Real equality means being held to the same standard as everyone else. It means being judged on results.’

Ms Badenoch added: ‘This Budget could have saved £47 billion, including £23 billion from welfare. She could have applied our golden economic rule, allocating half of those savings to cutting the deficit, using the rest to cut taxes.

‘She could have abolished stamp duty on homes to get the housing market moving, abolished business rates on shops to breathe life into our High Streets. She could have introduced our cheap power plan, which saves a lot more than she announced.

‘She should be on the side of people who get up and go to work, people who take a risk to start a company, people working all hours to keep their business afloat, she should be on the side of the farmer trying to hand something over to the next generation, the investor deciding whether to spend their money in the UK or elsewhere.

‘She should be on the side of the young person looking for their first job, the saver doing the right thing and putting money away for a rainy day, the pensioner trying to enjoy a decent retirement. This country works when you make the country work for them. Only the Conservatives are on their side, and our plan for them is simple: bring down energy costs, cut spending, cut tax, back business and get Britain working again.’

Kemi Badenoch’s speech highlighted Rachel Reeves’ unsuitability as Chancellor.

She impressed by humorously criticising Rachel Reeves and Labour – a surprising but excellent performance, and I might not be her greatest fan, however, she was extremely remarkable with her address, in fact, flawless, and if she keeps up the good work, I might even change my mind about her.