Gareth Davies: Condescending Keir has nowhere to hide from his terrible economic record

Gareth Davies is shadow Financial Secretary to the Treasury, and the Conservative MP for Grantham and Bourne.

The last few days have been bad for the country. Everyone’s bills went up by an average of £1100 last week and the National Insurance jobs tax came into effect yesterday all because of the choices our Prime Minister has made.

His denial has earned him a new nickname: Condescending Keir. Despite making everything worse, he condescendingly ploughs on, talking down to anyone who dares criticise him, and always seems to blame someone else. No matter what you may think, or what the facts may show, he always seems to know better.

It is not leadership, and it is the last thing the country needs. Awful April is well underway, and let’s be in no doubt, Sir Keir Starmer’s political choices are to blame.

He inherited the fastest growing economy in the G7, and then slammed it into reverse. Although Starmer appears astonished that he could ever be wrong when presented with his failures, facts don’t care about feelings. And they don’t lie.

At Labour’s emergency budget, which they were forced into having because of their poor choices, the Office for Budget Responsibility independently marked his homework. And, try as he might, he could not weasel his way out of this one.

It showed growth, inflation, debt, borrowing and living standards all moving in the wrong direction because of him. That means everything, from a pint of milk at the shop to a pint at the pub, is more expensive. Meanwhile, salaries are being slashed, jobs are being lost, and businesses are shuttering, leaving people more exposed to Labour’s economic mismanagement and global events that may compound our woes.

After 14 years in opposition, people forgot what Labour were capable of when they got their hands on the country’s purse strings. But this month has been a stark reminder. With eight different bills all rising last week, hardworking families are worse off. Even council tax, which Starmer promised to freeze, is skyrocketing.

But he and Rachel Reeves pretend everything is fine. No matter how many times they say they want to ‘kickstart growth’, if they do everything in their power to crush it then it isn’t going to happen. It shows how out of touch they are; the only part of their ‘plan for change’ that does what it says on the tin is that people should plan to have no change left after this month.

In this political climate, Labour’s decision to slap a £25bn national insurance jobs tax on work is tantamount to economic vandalism.

They said repeatedly when they were courting the country’s votes that they wanted to “put country before party”. If they meant what they said they would not go through with this punishing tax rise. It will hit British businesses where it hurts, costing working families an extra £3,500 each.

This tax will make it more expensive to hire part-time workers – hitting low earners the hardest. As the IFS has made clear, young people, single parents, and those in flexible work will suffer the most.

Above all, it will make the UK a less attractive place to invest, start a business and hire people. It is a tax on aspiration, growth and achievement. It should come as no surprise. Those are the three things we all know that the lefties in the Labour Party stand against.

The only thing this tax will achieve is to help fulfil Starmer and Reeves’ grim vision of managed decline. Some socialists may cheer the crushing of aspiration and enterprise. But Britain is a nation of shopkeepers, and this Jobs Tax will decimate Britain’s shops and small businesses.

Ultimately, in Labour’s ideological war on business, it is ordinary workers who are paying the price.

And it doesn’t stop at businesses. Hospices, charities, care homes, even services for dying children – all are being hit by Labour’s tax rise. Conservatives fought tooth and nail to exempt these essential services in parliament. But this left Labour MPs, who voted us down in their droves, unmoved.

Vulnerable families would be horrified to see Labour MPs march through the lobbies to make their lives harder; to ensure they get less support, worse care, and higher costs.

With tariffs hitting the UK, this Labour government picked the worst possible time to cross the street to pick a fight with businesses.

Whilst they were focusing on crushing our economy, they failed to secure the US trade deal we started, a deal that would have brought in more investment, created better jobs, and delivered higher wages across the UK. Ministers failed to engage with Donald Trump’s team for five full months. They sacked our top negotiator – and lost the deal.

Now, British businesses and families are paying the price in tariffs. The only silver lining? Brexit made it less damaging than it could have been.

Businesses, consumers and workers will all be worse off as a result of the crisis made in Downing Street. I want to work with the Government where it’s in the national interest, because I want what’s best for Britain. I hope Condescending Keir feels the same, and can also put his party-political differences aside and do what’s best for the country.

Instead of talking down to the British people, he needs to start lifting our country up. Until he does, Awful April will be here to stay.