We cannot afford to indulge in fiscal fantasy any longer - fixing Britain’s foundations requires honesty

Rachel Reeves now promises stability. What she’s delivered is a fiscal mirage—one that’s evaporating fast under the heat of reality.

The Office for Budget Responsibility’s latest Fiscal Risks and Sustainability Report makes for sobering reading: public debt is projected to hit 274% of GDP by 2073, driven by unchecked health spending, demographic pressures, and an unwillingness to confront hard truths.

This isn’t just a long-term concern. The crisis is already here.

Reeves claims she inherited a £20bn black hole – a claim the OBR refused to legitimise.

In reality the only black hole is not the one she invented but the one she has created, through a mix of wishful thinking and economic vandalism.

The OBR now warns that most borrowing is going not to fund services, but to pay the growing interest payments on our national credit card. That’s not fiscal management—it’s generational theft.

As the Shadow Chancellor reminded us recently, “sound money and responsible public spending” are not optional Conservative principles—they are the bedrock of national resilience.

He was right. And he was also right to say we must never again risk Britain’s economic stability with promises we cannot afford.

Labour, however, is doing just that—offering easy answers while quietly preparing the public for tax raids on pensions, portfolios, and property.

Mel Stride made a firm statement this year that the mistakes of the 2022 mini budget will never happen again under a Conservative government.

That was a moment of candour. But Reeves offers no such humility. Instead, she clings to the fiction that growth will somehow emerge from higher taxes, more regulation, and punitive raids on aspiration.

The result? Job creators fleeing Britain and more people out of work.

The July 2025 OBR report lays bare the structural rot. Rising health costs alone are forecast to be the single biggest driver of debt over the next 50 years.

An ageing population and off-balance-sheet liabilities like public sector pensions compound the crisis. Reeves’s response?

A botched attempt at a £5.5bn welfare spending trim and vague talk of “growth”.

It’s not enough. Leading economists are warning that without significant action the Chancellor is on course to break even her own relaxed fiscal rules by a large margin.

But here’s the kicker: 75% of government spending is on welfare, pensions, and debt interest. That leaves just a sliver of other spending to cut, and Labour backbenchers won’t stomach a modest trim never mind the overhaul required.

So, taxes on working people will rise. Starmer won’t rule it out. Reeves insists she won’t raise taxes on ‘working people’ but repeatedly refused to clarify what that means or how she will make the numbers add up.

The public understands what Labour doesn’t, with economic optimism halving since the election. The public knows something’s wrong. And they’re right.

Over half of households now take more from the state than they contribute.

Unemployment is rising and over 1 in 10 working age adults is now on a health-related benefit. The tax burden is at a post-war high—37.5% of GDP—and yet core services are crumbling.

Labour’s war on independent schools has already shuttered 50 institutions.

Their inheritance tax assault on family farms is triggering rural business collapse. The wealthy are fleeing the country. And asset managers are warning of “very real, very targeted” tax raids on middle-class savers.

This is not a growth strategy. It is another crisis to add to the list, with young people - once again - set to bare the brunt of the pain in lost opportunity and higher debts.

Conservatives must lead the reckoning. We cannot afford to indulge in fiscal fantasy any longer. As Adam Smith wrote, “peace, easy taxes and a tolerable administration of justice” are the ingredients of prosperity. Today, peace is uncertain, justice is delayed, and taxes are anything but easy.

The Conservative Party must offer more than blame—we must offer a plan.

That means: a balanced budget must be more than a slogan, it must be a commitment; spending must be sustainable, not sacrosanct; growth must be revived through free-enterprise, burning red tape in all sectors, fixing the planning system, and backing British business; and aspiration and wealth must be championed once again, with no more raids on business, homes, pensions, or education.

Economic honesty must be our rallying cry.

As much as every other party would have you believe it, fixing Britian won’t be easy - for anyone! But the longer we wait, the more painful the reckoning will be.

Labour have led Britain deep into Neverland. The Conservatives must lead us out.

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