Public turns on Labour over economic downturn

Yahoo

27-01-2025

The public has turned on Labour after Rachel Reeves's record tax raid triggered an economic downturn, according to a new survey.
Three quarters of Britons now rate the economy as 'poor', compared with just one in five who believe it is in a good state, the poll by Ipsos Mori showed.
Ms Reeves's record tax raid means 42pc of Britons have a negative view of her performance as Chancellor, according to the survey of 1,000 people, which was conducted just after a sharp rise in borrowing costs.
Fears of a recession are growing as business chiefs warn they will be forced to ramp up job cuts as the Budget tax raid hits growth.
The economy is expected to have flatlined in the final three months of the year, with bosses in the private sector now expecting a 'significant fall' in activity over the next three months, according to a survey by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI).
Ms Reeves is attempting a major reset of the Government's plans, with a speech on Wednesday morning expected to focus on planning reform, investment and trade as she signals her support for major infrastructure projects.
The Ipsos survey also showed that people were now just as likely to blame the state of the economy on Ms Reeves as they are Liz Truss, whose mini-Budget pushed up borrowing costs.
Ms Reeves's personal favourability score is now similar to predecessor Jeremy Hunt's just after the 2024 Spring Budget, with just 16pc of the opinion that she is doing a good job.
Gideon Skinner, senior director UK politics at Ipsos, said the 'honeymoon is very definitely over' for Labour.
He said: 'The public remain solidly pessimistic about the state of the economy, and in fact are now as worried again as they were a year ago.
'The economy is central to Labour's plans for government, but their room for manoeuvre is limited, with the public split down the middle in their preferences for more spending on public services or cuts in taxes and borrowing.
'Politically, attention is also shifting to the impact of the decisions taken by Keir Starmer and the Chancellor Rachel Reeves. While more people overall still blame the Conservatives and other global factors for the poor state of the economy, Labour are now also receiving much more of the flak from the public than they were last summer – the honeymoon is very definitely over.'
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