07/29/2024 – 14:09
UK Economy Minister Rachel Reeves has announced that the UK's public accounts have suffered a £22 billion gap left by the Conservative Party.
“This year we have inherited £22 billion of overspending. [28 bilhões de dólares ou 148 bilhões de reais na cotação atual] “(…) It was covered up by the opposition party,” Reeves declared.
“If it is not resolved, it could represent a 25 percent increase in the budget deficit this year,” she told lawmakers, referring to a detailed audit of public accounts. Her first budget will be presented on Oct. 30, she added.
“Today I will set out the urgent and essential work I have already done to reduce the pressure on the public accounts by £5.5bn this year, and more than £8bn next year,” Labour said.
The economy secretary has declared the scale of excessive spending “unsustainable” and that inaction is “not an option” for Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer's government.
“The new government audit shows the UK is broke,” the head of the British government's office said.
The UK's finance minister, the country's first woman to hold the post, added that the previous administration, led by Conservative Rishi Sunak, “avoided difficult decisions” and “put party before country”.
Reeves said the upcoming budget would seek to “fix the foundations of our economy,” adding that it would also launch a multi-year spending review to fix departmental budgets for three years.
However, the Conservative Party rejected Labour's demands and claimed that the new government was using this financial assessment to lay the groundwork for tax increases.
During the election campaign, Labour promised that it would not raise key taxes that affect workers.
The UK's budget deficit was about $152 billion in the 12 months to the end of March, the last British financial year.
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