Shadow Treasury Minister Gareth Davies has accused Chancellor Rachel Reeves of "overexposing" the UK to global trade turmoil through her tax policies.
Speaking to GB News, Davies criticised the Chancellor's domestic choices which he claims have left Britain vulnerable to international economic pressures.
"When you run a G7 economy, there are global factors all the time. What you don't do is overexpose your economy to those global factors," Davies said.
He pointed to what he described as a "£40billion tax raid" implemented by the Chancellor.
Gareth Davies has accused Rachel Reeves of 'overexposing' the UK to Donald Trump's tariffs
PA / GB News
"It's the debt that is increasing more than anybody expected. Those are the decisions that I think we have to hold the Chancellor to account on which have overexposed us to global factors," he added.
Davies emphasised his support for free trade, telling GB News: "I'm a conservative on free trade, I want to see lower tariffs because they are tax on consumers."
The Shadow Treasury Minister noted one benefit of Brexit has been placing Britain in a more advantageous position regarding tariffs.
"It is positive at least that as a result of leaving the European Union, we are in a lower tariff band than they are in Europe," he said.
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Rachel Reeves has claimed that Donald Trump is 'keen to do a deal' with BritainPAHowever, Davies insisted that only a comprehensive free trade agreement would secure Britain's economic future.
"That free trade agreement is what will ultimately secure our future and help provide that security for jobs across the country," he added.
Davies criticised Labour for what he called a "delayed process" in pursuing a US trade deal: "Labour could have acted much quicker," he told GB News.
Davies suggested Conservative leadership would have shown greater urgency on the issue: "Kemi would have acted much quicker," he claimed.
Davies told GB News that Kemi would have acted 'much quicker' in securing a deal with the US
GB News
He warned that British families and jobs could be at risk due to these delays.
"We're now in a situation where this is a delayed free trade agreement, and it’s British families and jobs that could be at risk as a result of that", he said.
Despite his criticism, Davies acknowledged Chancellor Reeves' current visit to Washington as "positive".
"We urge her to make progress with Scott Bessent the Treasury Secretary and Keir Starmer with the President of the United States," he added.
