Government Performance against Fiscal Rules

Lord Garnier Excerpts

Tuesday 8th July 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

My Lords, I will tell the noble Lord what matters in terms of controlling the public finances: economic growth, which his Government singularly failed on. Whether it was the Liz Truss mini-Budget, the Brexit deal that he supported and championed, or austerity at exactly the wrong moment for the economy, the previous Government’s record on economic growth was woeful.

[Lord Garnier (Con)]

My Lords, I think the public are getting a bit bored of the mantra of blaming the previous Government—that is a long time ago now.

[Noble Lords]

Oh!

[Lord Garnier (Con)]

What are the current Government going to do about the current problem?

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

I do not think the public are getting bored of it. The noble and learned Lord may be getting bored of it, perhaps because he is slightly sensitive about it. If he thinks that 14 years of crashing the economy can be undone in one year, he is living in cloud-cuckoo-land. This Government will stick to their policies and grow the economy.