20 March 2025, 18:03

By Sir Vince Cable

Our Labour government is trapped between resentful taxpayers and disappointed supporters who want to see a properly functioning European welfare state.

It is trapped in a cell of its own making having locked itself in and thrown away the key. It recklessly, if understandably, promised not to raise the main taxes on income and spending. And it signed up to demanding fiscal rules, fearing ambush by the bond market vigilantes, a la Truss.

Shackled by self-imposed constraints, the government is struggling to repair badly depleted public services, rescue near-bankrupt local government and universities, and cater to an ageing and increasingly sick population expecting free and unlimited health care.

Then, there are rising borrowing costs. And, now, the cost of rearming the country for a return to the Cold........

© LBC