Jeremy Hunt blasts economic 'Scrooges' talking Britain down

Jeremy Hunt last night blasted the economic “Scrooges” who talk Britain down, insisting we are on the road to prosperity.

The Chancellor delivered much-needed Christmas cheer by declaring the country had now “turned a corner” and could look forward to a brighter year ahead.

In a festive message, he said his fiscal measures were working and our medium-term prospects were now better than France and Germany.

He told the Sunday Express: “I remember last Christmas when a number of commentators were confidently predicting turmoil for the economy and high inflation was here to stay. That has not happened. A year later and our decisive action means we have turned a corner.”

Mr Hunt added: “The future of our finances is looking brighter – so don’t let the Scrooges get you down.”

The Chancellor gave his optimistic outlook in a week when inflation fell and confidence grew that energy bills and interest rates will soon come down.

Experts predicted Britain will avoid a recession and will have a brighter outook for 2024, despite revised official data showing gross domestic product fell 0.1 per cent leaving the UK on the brink of recession.

Mr Hunt boasted that prices are now rising at the “slowest rate in two years” and the “pieces are in place for stronger growth”.

He defended taking “decisive action” and “rejecting inflation-busting pay rises for public servants.”

This week, up to 22 million shoppers are expected to demonstrate his optimism by splashing out a bumper £3.68billion in the Boxing Day sales.

Festive revellers are expected to give hotels, pubs and restaurants a multi-billion pound boost.

Kate Nicholls, chief executive of the UKHospitality trade body, said that “with confidence on the rise across the board” she expected that “this year’s festivities will generate roughly £15billion in revenue across pubs, hotels and restaurants nationwide, highlighting a huge opportunity for venues across the UK”.

There are strong hopes that homeowners will have more spare cash next year if falling inflation leads to interest rate cuts. Last week the cost of a five-year fixed-term mortgage dropped below four per cent for the first time in months.

Millions of workers will feel better off with pay rises outstripping inflation. The most recent figures show the average pay increase was 7.3 per cent in October – far above the inflation rate of 3.9 per cent for the 12 months to November.

Andrew Goodacre of the British Independent Retailers Association, said: “What retailers needs above all else is for consumers to feel confident they can spend their money. What we are getting now is a better sense of economic stability.”

But he added: “The one missing factor in that is economic growth. If we could get some of that coming through early in the New Year that would be very welcome.”

An exclusive Sunday Express poll reveals how desperate Britons are for the country to turn a new page.

More than seven out of 10 people (71 per cent) said 2023 was a “terrible” or “bad” year, according to the WeThink survey.

Fewer than one out of 10 (nine per cent) said it was a “good” or “vintage” 12 month.

The vast majority of respondents (68 per cent) said the cost of living crisis was the worst thing about 2023, ahead of the state of the NHS (13 per cent), global insecurity (seven per cent), strikes (six per cent) and crime or the fear of crime (three per cent).

People are cautious about the prospects for next year, with 30 per cent saying it will be “better”, the same amount expecting it will stay the same, and 28 per cent predicting it will be “worse”.

Fears of recession grew last week when new figures showed the economy shrank by 0.1 per cent between July and September.

Entrepreneur Sir James Dyson said the country should be “going for growth”.

In a clear warning to the Chancellor, he said: “I’ve always believed that inflation isn’t quite the enemy everyone thinks it is. If you’ve got growth, a bit of inflation doesn’t matter.”

“If you get inflation down and kill growth, I think you’re in trouble.”

Mr Hunt, in a message to Sunday Express readers, defended the Government’s record, saying there are “never a shortage of Scrooges when it comes to the UK”.

He said that “because high inflation stops businesses from investing, taming inflation means we can be more confident that the pieces are in place for stronger growth – helping people to build a wealthier and more secure life for themselves and their families”.

Boxing Day is expected to see a £2.55bn splurge on high streets, with a further £1.13bn spent online, according to a GlobalData Retail study.

Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, sounded a cautious note, saying: “It’s great to see inflation continuing to fall, with food inflation down every month since April – clearly retailers’ efforts to bring prices under control is bearing fruit. Nonetheless, the cost of living remains high for many households across the UK, and with several large costs coming down the line in 2024 – including a 6.7 per cent rise to business rates – there is a risk of renewed pressure on prices in 2024.”

John Longworth, chairman of the Independent Business Network, stressed the opportunities the country can grasp, saying: “Inflation is falling naturally post-Covid and interest rates should come down as should taxes. National debt as a proportion of GDP is falling.

“We live in trying times and government needs to get a grip and stick up for a prosperous, democratic Britain, but there is much to be thankful for and every sign that Britons and British business are as resilient as ever.”

Maxwell Marlow of the Adam Smith Institute also saw “reasons for optimism”.

He said: “The integration of artificial intelligence across industry and the public sector will only continue to improve many aspects of our lives – from our health to transport. Most of all, we can hopefully look forward to the opportunity for tax cuts to our income taxes and the unpopular inheritance, or death, tax.”

Deciding on the contents of the pre-election Spring Budget will be a key task for Mr Hunt and Rishi Sunak as they work to persuade the country to grant the Conservatives another term in power.

The most recent WeThink polling shows one in three adults (33 per cent) say they will vote Labour, with just over one in five (22 per cent) planning to vote Conservative.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is expected to make the promise of a decade of national renewal a centrepiece of the long election campaign which will kick off next month. He is due to make a speech in the first week of the new year in which he will present himself as a champion of change.

Mr Sunak is not expected to deliver a speech but will instead meet directly with voters. It is anticipated he will drop hints that tax cuts are on the way.