Socialists at it again as more taxes loom

THE Austrian economist Frederick Hayek, who influenced Margaret Thatcher's free market philosophy, once wrote that "if socialists understood economics, they would not be socialists".

Those words are as true of Sir Keir Starmer's failing government as of every other left-wing administration in British history. The socialist ideology has always led us to rising taxes, debts, unemployment and stagnation.

Just seven months into office, that is exactly what is happening again under Starmer and his beleaguered Chancellor Rachel Reeves. They came to power in July promising a dynamic new era of growth.

Instead, they have presided over deepening malaise, adopting the traditional approach of tax-and-spend, with the Government's overall bill going up by a colossal £70billion in the Budget. Most of it was squandered on civic bureaucracy and union pay demands.

Despite a small drop in the latest inflation rate and a stuttering return to growth in the last quarter, the Government is in a hole, and urgently needs to win back trust by strengthening the public finances.