By politics.co.uk staff

The chancellor’s economic policies are relying too heavily on the private sector, according to Unite’s general secretary.

Writing for politics.co.uk, Len McCluskey said George Osborne’s “pigheadedness” meant Britain was becoming a “stagnation nation”.

“Ministers are putting great store in the hope that the private sector will lead the economic revival, riding to the rescue of the half a million or so public sector workers dumped on the dole,” Mr McCluskey wrote.

Coalition year one: Len McCluskey on the coalition’s spending cuts

“So far, the private sector is exhibiting little sign of taking up its role as powerhouse.”

The recent Focus administration, he pointed out, had imperilled 4,000 jobs, while 2,500 skilled research jobs were lost at Pfizer in Sandwich earlier this year.

Unite, the union for public sector workers which represents 1.5 million people, gave the coalition a D- mark ahead of its first anniversary this Friday.

Mr McCluskey offered a lengthy list of the victims of the “almost neo-con” spending cuts experiment, including young people, old people and consumers.

“It is quite clear that the coalition has got itself into a mindset that views “cuts, cuts, and more cuts” as the main lever to achieve Britain’s economic stability,” the Unite general secretary added.

“Unite does not deny that the deficit has to be tackled, but cuts do nothing other than shrink the economy – a self-inflicted wound by chancellor George Osborne. We need, as a nation, to invest in growth first and then the deficit can be tackled.”