Reeves slams ’13 years of Tory failure’ as IMF downgrades UK growth prospects

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves was granted an urgent question today on the news that the IMF has downgraded its UK GDP forecast, predicting a contraction of 0.6 per cent through 2023.

Ms Reeves said: “The world upgraded, Britain downgraded. Growth even worse than sanctions hit Russia. The IMF chief economist singles out higher mortgage rates as a reason for Britain’s poor performance. The Tory mortgage penalty is devastating”.

Exchequer secretary to the treasury James Cartlidge, who was responding to the urgent question, said: “As the IMF said in its press conference today. We think that the UK is on the right track. It also said that the UK had done well in the last year, with growth revised upwards to 4.1%, one of the highest growth rates in Europe of 2022”.