Skip to main content
Work with the NEU
It’s time to go
Tory failure to address the most pressing needs of the economy and society makes them unfit for office, writes KEN LIVINGSTONE

BEHIND the bad jokes, gimmicks and rather meagre “giveaways” in this week’s Budget, the main story was a substantial downgrading of growth forecasts in a situation where economic growth is already currently the lowest it has been since the Tories came into office and the slowest of the major economies in the G7.

Forecasts for wages and productivity have also been downgraded as have levels of business investment.

As the economist Larry Elliott put it, “the real story was not the latest attempt to boost home ownership but the news from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) on the state of the economy. This was little short of calamitous.”

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
‘NOT A GIMMICK’: Andy Burnham at the National Economic Council meeting at No 10 North in Heron House, central Manchester, July 24 2026
Features / 31 July 2026
31 July 2026

A sharp rise in public-sector investment is required to kick-start the economy, argues MICHAEL BURKE

A family stands on ruins of their home after a Russian air guided bomb hit their private house in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine
Military spending / 17 July 2026
17 July 2026

SOPHIE BOLT argues that spending more on military will harm rather than benefit Britain by diverting vital resources away from essential public services

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer tours Palantir Technologies headquarters with company employees and British military personnel in Washington DC, February 27, 2025
Politics / 4 July 2026
4 July 2026

Only an ambitious programme of state-led investment can restore growth and improve living standards, argues MICHAEL BURKE

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves stands next to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer as he acknowledges guests during a visit to the Benn Partnership Centre, a community centre in Rugby, Warwickshire, November 27, 2025
Features / 28 November 2025
28 November 2025

The 2025 Budget shores up the PM’s political position with headline-grabbing welfare U-turns, but with no improvements on offer to declining public services or living standards, writes MICHAEL BURKE