UK ‘bottom of league’
THE UK would not qualify if there was a “World Cup for growth”, according to Angela Rayner.
Labour’s deputy leader told the Commons: “The Conservatives would have us all believe that the economic problems are out of their hands when the truth is it’s working people paying the price for their choices; they’ve chosen to protect corporate profits and not household incomes.
“There are 38 countries in the OECD two-year growth league table, where does the UK rank in that table?”
Dominic Raab replied: “She will know on the latest data unemployment remains at a 50-year low. The shadow chancellor (Rachel Reeves) is saying it’s gone up, it’s half the level left by the last Labour government. When it comes to GDP she’ll know the IMF has said that we will have the strongest growth in the G7.”
Ms Rayner countered: “I think the economic situation families face speaks for itself. But I’ll answer the question for the Deputy Prime Minister: the answer is 38 out of 38 on growth. If there was a World Cup for growth we wouldn’t even qualify.”
Mr Raab said the economic challenges are “global” and caused by Covid and the war in Ukraine, adding: “We’ve got a plan to grip inflation, balance the books and drive economic growth. If we listened to (Ms Rayner), debt would go up, unemployment will go up and working Britons would pay the price.”
Ms Rayner noted the Government is expected to make tough fiscal choices in Thursday’s autumn statement, and said every pound “hidden in tax havens is a pound lost from the pockets of working families”.
“I notice non-dom status hasn’t been abolished though,” she told Mr Raab.
The Deputy Prime Minister countered that requirements around non-dom status are “stricter” due to changes made by the Conservatives, and said his party has decreased the gap between tax owed and tax raised.
Mr Raab was standing in for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak who was away at the G20 summit in Indonesia.
Labour has pledged to scrap non-domiciled status, whereby those who declare their permanent home overseas can be legally exempt from paying UK tax on foreign income.