Flatlining economy could force Rachel Reeves to break her pledge and come back with ANOTHER tax raid, experts warn
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A sluggish economy could force Rachel Reeves to break her pledge and come back with another tax raid, a leading economist has warned. Revised figures yesterday showed the UK saw zero growth in the three months from July to September. Previously it was estimated at just 0.1 per cent.
![[Revised figures yesterday showed the UK saw zero growth in the three months from July to September]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/23/21/93440579-14222703-Revised_figures_yesterday_showed_the_UK_saw_zero_growth_in_the_t-a-36_1734990887467.jpg)
Tory business spokesman Andrew Griffith said it was proof Labour had 'killed, plucked and cooked the UK economic goose'. And Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) think-tank, told Times Radio: 'It's not impossible that the Chancellor will feel she needs to come back for yet more money next autumn if the economy doesn't pick up.'.
![[Shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith (pictured) said it was proof Labour had 'killed, plucked and cooked the UK economic goose']](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/23/21/93440819-14222703-Shadow_business_secretary_Andrew_Griffith_pictured_said_it_was_p-a-37_1734990887474.jpg)
Yesterday's figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) represent the latest evidence of Labour's dismal economic record. UK gross domestic product had grown by 0.7 per cent in the first quarter of the year and 0.4 per cent in the second quarter, putting it on a par with the US as the best performer among the G7 group of advanced economies.
![[The Chancellor promised business leaders last month that she was 'not coming back with more taxes', but has since repeatedly refused to reiterate the pledge]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/23/21/93440321-14222703-The_Chancellor_promised_business_leaders_last_month_that_she_was-a-39_1734990887485.jpg)
But after Labour took power in July – and promptly laid on the doom and gloom about the economic legacy left by the Tories – confidence drained away and growth stagnated in the third quarter, with GDP shrinking by 0.1 per cent in October. Worse was to come from Ms Reeves when she announced £40 billion of tax hikes in her October Budget, including a £25 billion raid on employers' National Insurance contributions.
![[Chancellor Rachel Reeves presenting her Budget in October that included a £25 billion raid on employers' National Insurance contributions]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/23/21/93393535-14222703-Chancellor_Rachel_Reeves_presenting_her_Budget_in_October_that_i-a-38_1734990887480.jpg)
