Labour’s economic choices condemned with swingeing spending cuts expected in spring statement

Plaid Cymru’s Westminster leader Liz Saville Roberts has condemned the UK Government’s economic policies ahead of next week’s spring statement.

Speaking at the party’s spring conference in Llandudno, Ms Saville Roberts said that the Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ planned cuts will “rain hardest on the poorest, the sickest, and the most vulnerable, while the ultra-wealthy and big corporations are sheltered from the storm”.

Rachel Reeves is expected to announce the biggest spending cuts since austerity at next week’s spring statement after ruling out tax rises as a way to close her budget deficit.

It is reported that the Chancellor will tell MPs next Wednesday that she intends to cut Whitehall budgets by billions of pounds more than previously expected in a move that could mean reductions of as much as 7% for certain departments over the next four years.

Ms Saville Roberts also warned of the growing political threat posed by Reform UK, arguing that Labour’s economic failures risk creating an opening for the far right.

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'Most vulnerable'

Speaking in Llandudno, Ms Saville Roberts said: “Rachel Reeves says there are ‘difficult choices’ to make. But those choices always seem to rain hardest on the poorest, the sickest, the most vulnerable – and it’s the ultra-wealthy and big corporations that are sheltered from the storm.

'It doesn’t have to be this way. There are other choices. Instead of hiking national insurance for small businesses, they could close tax loopholes that allow City of London lawyers to pay less tax than Welsh shopkeepers. Instead of making it harder for those who are ill to access the support they need, they could clamp down on corporate tax evasion that costs billions every year.

'Instead of gutting Welsh public services, they could end taxpayer subsidies for oil and gas giants who are making record profits. Instead of taxing working family farms, they could ensure that those making millions from property speculation pay their fair share.

'If the UK is to make an argument for its existence, it must address the very structural inequality which we in Wales suffer the most. That is what Labour should be seeking to address, not keeping our communities under the hatches, like they have done for far too long.

'These are the choices Plaid Cymru would make. Choices that put Wales first. But Labour won’t make them – because they are still trapped by outdated Treasury thinking. They cling to ideological fiscal rules that serve the financial elite while leaving ordinary people behind.

'Other countries, like Germany, are adapting their economic strategy to meet new global realities. Labour should be doing the same.

'Because make no mistake – the world is changing. Trump is wreaking havoc again, pushing reckless tariffs that threaten our industries. The war in Ukraine rages on. And Labour’s failure to invest in our future will leave us dangerously exposed.”

“Next week’s Spring Statement will be a gloomy affair, with little thought given to our nation’s future.

'But that isn’t the only danger we face,” She added.

“If we – Plaid Cymru – do not provide solutions to Labour’s failings, something worse will take their place. Reform UK is not just another party. It is a limited company that only exists to make money for Nigel Farage by whipping up hatred. They claim to speak for the people, but they serve the billionaires.

'Labour is too weak, too complacent to stop Reform. Only Plaid Cymru can.”

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Financial rules

The Chancellor is under pressure to increase taxes or cut spending to meet the financial rules she set at the budget in October amid disappointing growth figures and higher-than-expected borrowing.

Figures released on Friday came as a further blow, showing that government borrowing had soared past forecasts in February.

She signalled that she would neither raise taxes nor government budgets in an interview with the BBC.

“We can’t tax and spend our way to higher living standards and better public services. That’s not available in the world we live in today,” she said.

When she delivers her spring statement on Wednesday, Ms Reeves will be responding to new forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility made after the Bank of England reduced its forecasts for growth this year.

Borrowing

Public sector net borrowing was £10.7 billion in February, £4.2 billion more than had been forecast by the OBR.

Experts estimate that around a million people in Wales and England will lose their disability benefits as part of a welfare overhaul that the Government believes will save more than £5 billion a year by the end of the decade.

Ms Reeves told the BBC: “I recognise that with the privilege of doing a job like the one I’m doing today also comes a great deal of scrutiny. I absolutely believe that every policy that I announce, every pound of public money, of taxpayers’ money that I spend, and every pound that I take from people is properly scrutinised. That’s part of the job.”