Sir Keir Starmer reportedly preparing to charge Nigel Farage and Brexit due to an expected decline in British budget productivity in a new attack on the UK's reformist leader.
Treasury officials are preparing for Office of Budgetary Responsibility (DEF) this lower productivity growth forecasts – rating downgrade, which could lead to an additional deficit of around £20 billion in the November Budget. The shortfall is expected to be made up by tax increases.
But sources said Times Sir Keir and chancellor Rachel Reeves plan to argue that this decline would not have occurred if not for Brexitblaming the reform leader for leading the campaign to bring Britain out of the EU.
Sir Keir Starmer has stepped up his attack on Reform UK (PA Wire)
This happens afterIndependent revealed that Brexit is costing British businesses £37 billion a year as a result of a 5% drop in trade with the bloc.
While the government has taken steps to remove barriers to trade by signing a new cooperation agreement with the bloc earlier this year, there are concerns it still will not go far enough to offset barriers caused by Brexit.
Sir Keir has previously accused Farage of having a “fantastic” economy, comparing him to former Conservative prime minister Liz Truss and claiming his promises to cut taxes would “destroy the economy”.
But in recent weeks the Prime Minister has stepped up his attacks on Farage, using the Labor Party conference to claim his party is in a “fight for the soul of the country” with a reformist Britain, hitting back at the “lies and division” of right-wing populism.
Nigel Farage's Reform UK party is gaining momentum, according to opinion polls (PA Wire)
In a passionate 54-minute speech to the party conference in Liverpool, the Prime Minister vowed to protect British flags on the right after a summer in which they found themselves at the center of the culture wars.
Saying Mr Farage “doesn't love Britain”, Sir Keir insisted Labor was a “patriotic party” and used his address to set out his vision of “a country of dignity and respect”.
He warned that Mr Farage's reform policies, which he said would threaten the livelihoods of thousands of legal migrants, were “racist” and said anyone who argued that people who have lived here for generations should now be deported was an “enemy of national renewal”.
The Prime Minister's new line of attack, which is expected to focus on the budget, is likely to be accompanied by a number of further difficult decisions for the government.
Expectations are growing that the Treasury will have to increase taxes by as much as £30 billion in the upcoming Budget due to poor productivity, government U-turns and higher-than-expected interest payments.
Ms Reeves faces growing pressure to rescue Britain's troubled finances, but the Government has repeatedly said it will not raise VAT, income tax or national insurance rates in November's Budget.
Downing Street has been contacted for comment.
