In their attack on aspiration, Labour are resorting to failed socialist policies of the past...

THE fallout from the Chancellor's explosive Budget continues to reverberate across the political landscape. Colossal in scale, vindictive in its targets, Rachel Reeves' unprecedented cash grab looks certain to send Britain into decline by undermining our competitiveness and living standards.

- Leo McKinstry

Under Labour's ill-judged rule over the coming years, growth will be too low, debts too high and the state too big.

In the run-up to the General Election, Sir Keir Starmer claimed that he led a "changed" party which would govern from the centre, foster wealth creation and promote fiscal restraint.

How hollow those pledges now sound. Rarely in British history has an incoming Government been so dishonest about its intentions.

It is now clear the stance of moderation was cynically designed to mislead voters, while Reeves and Starmer plotted a return to full-blooded socialism, where private wealth and enterprise are ruthlessly plundered to provide cash for a bloated, inefficient public sector run in the narrow interests of its workforce, rather than the needs of the country.

The impulse to deceive the public is fast becoming one of the hallmarks of this Government.

Even the normally restrained Institute for Fiscal Studies accused Reeves of indulging in "silly manoeuvres" to conceal the impact of her policies, while Labour have resorted to endless linguistic gymnastics about the definition of "working people" to distract attention from the breach of the party's promise not to increase national insurance.

Similarly, before the Budget, Labour sternly warned that there would be no extra cash for the mismanaged, crisis-ridden NHS without radical reform. Yet this week the service was handed an additional £25billion without any conditions.

Dishonesty