Rachel Reeves says US tariffs will have 'huge implications'
Rachel Reeves is under fire for her handling of the economy yet again after a watchdog laid bare Britain’s growing debt problem. This morning the Office for National Statistics (ONS) confirmed that from April 2024 to April 2025, public sector net borrowing was ￡151.9 billion.
This was a whopping ￡20.7 billion more than in the previous year, and the third highest total on record. The watchdog also warns that government borrowing last year increased for the first time since Covid, as a result of Rachel Reeves’ decisions. Public sector net debt, excluding the Bank of England, now stands at 95.8% of GDP, 0.2% higher than the previous financial year under the Conservatives and the highest level since the early 1960s.
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READ MORE: UK economic growth downgraded in another humiliating blow for Rachel Reeves
Rachel Reeves has been slammed yet again (Image: Getty)
Commenting on today’s damning figures, the ONS’ chief economist Grant Fitzner said: “Our initial estimates suggest public sector net borrowing rose almost ￡21 billion in the financial year yesterday ended as, despite a substantial boost in income, expenditure rose by more.”
He put this squarely at the door of No. 11 Downing Street, thanks to “inflation-related costs, including higher pay and benefit increases.”
Mr Fitzner added: “At the end of the financial year, debt remained close to the annual value of the output of the economy, at levels last seen in the early 1960s.”
The Conservatives were quick to slam Rachel Reeves this morning, saying today’s stats compound the hammer blow from the IMF yesterday.
Shadow Trade & Business Secretary Andrew Griffith said: “Combined with yesterday's growth downgrades by the IMF yesterday, today's figures show you can’t spend your way to prosperity.”
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The OBR has dealt another blow to Rachel Reeves (Image: OBR)
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“The Chancellor is in Washington when what she should really be doing is getting a grip on spending back home.
“Only businesses create jobs and growth but this government are set on hiking up taxes, piling on more red tape and attacking wealth creators.”
Commenting on today's debt figures, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Darren Jones said: "Economic stability is crucial within a changing world. We will never play fast and loose with the public finances, that's why our fiscal rules are non-negotiable and why we are going through every penny of taxpayer money spent, line by line, for the first time in 17 years to tear out waste."
"We are laser-focused on making sure taxpayer money is delivering our Plan for Change missions to put more money in people’s pockets, rebuild the NHS and strengthen our borders."
Yesterday the International Monetary Fund (IMF) delivered fresh humiliation for the Chancellor when it downgraded Britain’s growth forecast for this year.
The IMF forecast growth of just 1.1% in 2025, 0.5% down from its previous outlook.
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It is a fresh blow for the Chancellor and comes as Donald Trump’s tariff wars deliver a severe hit to the global economy. The outlook for 2026 has also been downgraded, from 1.5% to 1.4%.
Rather than pointing the finger of blame at Donald Trump’s global trade disruption, the IMF’s report blamed the UK downgrade on “recent tariff announcements, an increase in gilt yields and weaker private consumption amid higher inflation”.
Shadow Chancellor, Mel Stride, said: "The latest IMF outlook is a worrying indictment of Labour’s economic approach. Less than a year into their government, Britain is already seeing the consequences of Labour’s high-tax, high-spend agenda.”