Shadow Business Secretary Andrew Griffith has launched a scathing attack on the Chancellor's upcoming Spring Statement, warning it will usher in a new era of austerity.
Speaking to GB News, Griffith branded the economic plan as "Reeves-terity", claiming it would be "austerity, just with a different name, a different face".
The Conservative MP accused Rachel Reeves of making "terrible decisions" that have damaged the economy.
He warned that the statement, due this week, would reveal lower growth forecasts for the UK.
Andrew Griffith claimed the Spring Statement will be 'austerity with a different name'
PA / GB News
Griffith suggested that after targeting "farmers and pensioners and small businesses" in her first budget, the Chancellor now appears poised to focus cuts on "disabled people on welfare and civil servants".
Griffith detailed how the Chancellor's first budget had "absolutely clobbered business" with "£40billion of tax rises, particularly on jobs, that National Insurance jobs tax".
He claimed these decisions had devastating consequences for the economy.
"Business confidence was devastated, unemployment started to rise, and now we're going to get this week lower growth forecasts for the UK," he told GB News.
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Chancellor Rachel Reeves will announce her Spring Statement on Wednesday
POOLThe Shadow Business Secretary disputed the Chancellor's economic justification for tax increases.
"The OBR has never found this black hole she talks about," Griffith stated.
He argued that despite Reeves claiming to have "brought stability to the economy" as justification for raising taxes, most of the revenue "went on higher public spending with unreformed public services".
Griffith criticised the Chancellor for failing to implement necessary reforms before imposing tax increases: "She didn't do wise choices then, she's not come out with reform of the public sector before."
Griffith told GB News that he expects the Spring Statement to hit 'disabled people on welfare and civil servants'
GB News
Griffith outlined a litany of Government policies he claimed were harming different sectors of society.
He accused the Government of "attacking farmers, small businesses, taking away the winter fuel allowance, pensioners, fuelling a brain drain of some of our best and brightest".
When asked if Rachel Reeves should lose her job over these economic failures, Griffith broadened his criticism.
"It's not just any one individual. It's this Government across the piece," he responded, suggesting the problems extend beyond the Treasury.
