Here are three facts which show just how bad the Tories have been for the economy, resulting in hardship for households across the country.

The Tories have always prided themselves on being the party of ‘sound finances’, portraying themselves as a credible party on the economy, whom you can trust with the nation’s finances. The facts however show just how badly the Tories have performed on the economy, amid inflation, falling living standards and a cost of living crisis, which means many are struggling to make ends meet.

Here are three facts which show just how bad the Tories have been for the economy, resulting in hardship for households across the country.

1. The largest reduction in real living standards since ONS records began

Despite claims of ‘Tory levelling up’ and promises that the country is turning a corner, the UK is facing the largest reduction in real living standards since ONS records began.

The OBR says that living standards “are forecast to be 3½ per cent lower in 2024-25 than their pre-pandemic level … this … represents the largest reduction in real living standards since ONS [Office for National Statistics] records began in the 1950s”.

That means people will be getting worse off, not better off, despite Jeremy Hunt’s attempt to portray a rosy picture during the autumn statement.

2. £8,300 gap in living standards compared to the rest of Europe

After fifteen years of economic stagnation, the typical UK household is way poorer than peers in countries like France and Germany.

A new report, published by the Resolution Foundation and the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics, found that economic stagnation and poor productivity has left households on average £8,300 worse off.

“The UK has now seen 15 years of relative decline, with productivity growth at half the rate seen across other advanced economies,” Resolution said in the 300-page final report from its “Economy 2030 Inquiry.”

Bloomberg reports: “The task is “huge but not insurmountable,” Resolution said. Were Britain to close the average income and inequality gap with Australia, Canada, France, Germany and the Netherlands, “the typical household would be 25% — £8,300 — better off, with income gains of 37% for the poorest households.”

3. UK workers £11,000 worse off after years of wage stagnation

After 15 years of “almost completely unprecedented” wage stagnation workers in the UK are £11,000 worse off a year, according to the Resolution Foundation.

“Nobody who’s alive and working in the British economy today has ever seen anything like this. This is definitely not what normal looks like. This is what failure looks like,” Torsten Bell, the chief executive of the Resolution Foundation, told the BBC earlier this year.

Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward

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