Britain must face the “hard truth” that its standard of living is “not an entitlement”, Kemi Badenoch said as she urged Labour to cooperate with her party on welfare cuts.
Accusing the Government of overseeing rising taxes and borrowing, the Conservative leader said the country was “living beyond our means” and “spending more than we earn on welfare, on union pay rises and, increasingly, on debt interest”.
Speaking to the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales, Mrs Badenoch said: “There is a hard truth that we must face up to in this country, that we must be brave enough to confront.
“Britain’s standard of living is not an entitlement. It is the sum of our collective efforts. There is no guarantee that we will enjoy a particular quality of life just because we are the United Kingdom.
“If we want it, we have to earn it. If we want to stay wealthy, we have to produce wealth.”
Answering questions after her speech, Mrs Badenoch argued that “we cannot do things the way we used to” in an age of increasing international competition.
She said: “What causes the problem is people believing that everything can stay the same and more money will just arrive.
“It’s not just what’s happening to us, it’s also what other countries and economies are doing.”
The Tory leader also accused the Government of creating a “tax doom loop”, with the Chancellor failing to secure economic growth and being forced into ever high taxation and borrowing in order to fund spending commitments.
And she offered Sir Keir Starmer her party’s support if he agreed to meet with her to formulate a “serious plan” to cut welfare spending after he was forced to abandon an attempt at welfare reform earlier this year in the face of a backbench rebellion.
Sir Keir’s decision to move his close ally and fixer Pat McFadden to the Department for Work and Pensions in last week’s reshuffle has sparked speculation that he could be planning another bid to cut the welfare bill in the coming months.
Mrs Badenoch said: “Whether he wants to admit it or not, Keir Starmer needs our help if he wants to cut spending and stop this tax doom loop that he created.
“If he wants to stop pushing up inflation and stop crushing business confidence, he simply cannot afford to fail at this again. We cannot afford to fail at this again.”
A Labour source previously dismissed her offer of cooperation as “a gimmick”.
Asked about Mrs Badenoch’s offer in the Commons on Tuesday, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said Labour “won’t be taking any advice from the Leader of the Opposition, who was part of a government that crashed the economy, sending mortgage rates spiralling and putting pensions in peril”.
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