Political commentator Peter Barnes has called for Rachel Reeves’s resignation following the latest economic data showing zero growth.
Speaking on GB News, Barnes criticised the Chancellor’s performance, saying she “looks rather like a reindeer in the headlights.”
“We knew as soon as they said it would be a budget for growth that it was going to lead to no growth,” Barnes said.
“The first question we should be asking is, when should we be expecting resignations?” he added, citing warnings from major business forecasters about the economy’s outlook.
Peter Barnes lashed out at Rachel Reeves
PA / GB News
The Office for National Statistics has revised down its estimate of UK economic growth for the third quarter of 2024 to 0 per cent, from an initial estimate of 0.1 per cent.
The figures show the economy flatlined between July and September, with no growth in the services sector.
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A 0.7 per cent increase in construction was offset by a 0.4 per cent fall in production during this period.
ONS director Liz McKeown noted that “bars and restaurants, legal firms and advertising, in particular, performing less well.”
The Confederation of British Industry’s latest survey paints a grim picture for the economy’s future.
Alpesh Paleja, the CBI’s interim deputy chief economist, warned: “There is little festive cheer in our latest surveys, which suggest that the economy is headed for the worst of all worlds.”
Peter Barnes joined Cameron Walker and Dawn Neesom on GB News
GB NEWS
He highlighted that firms expect to reduce both output and hiring, while citing the Budget’s impact on businesses.
The rise in employer National Insurance Contributions was specifically identified as “exacerbating an already tepid demand environment.”
Shadow Business Secretary Andrew Griffith delivered a scathing assessment of the Chancellor’s economic policies.
“Since taking office, the Chancellor has made this country a hostile climate for aspiration, for investment and for growth,” he said.
Griffith warned that Reeves’s “tax-raising spree and trash-talking her economic inheritance are literally killing businesses and jobs.”
“If there is a recession – and based on these CBI expectations that seems increasingly likely – it will be one made in Downing Street,” he added.
The CBI’s growth indicator survey, based on responses from 899 companies, showed expectations for growth at their weakest since November 2022.
The survey revealed a 24 percentage point gap between negative and positive responses on expected output, deteriorating from a 10-point gap in November.
Business volumes in the services sector are anticipated to decline, while distribution sales and manufacturing output are also expected to fall sharply in the three months to March.
