Raising taxes and plugging black holes, Labour’s discourse ignores proven (and easier) methods to boost productivity, says Paul Ormerod

The Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has a major financial problem. Much of this is of her own making. Her relentlessly negative narrative about the UK economy has in itself created a stagnant economy.

The issue she faces is how to balance the books. Or, rather, how to create the semblance of balancing the books.

Labour’s productivity discourse is all wrong

The amounts spent on debt interest and welfare benefits alone mean that, without truly drastic measures, the government will run large fiscal deficits for the foreseeable future.

The whole discourse in government is around which taxes to raise to try and plug the black holes which Reeves has created.

Labour luminaries from the past have joined in the debate. The former Labour leader Neil Kinnock has called for a wealth tax. This, we might recall, is the same Neil Kinnock who contrived to lose the 1992 election despite the economy being in recession because the electorate at........

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