Labour PM Keir Starmer, Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Secretary of State for Housing Angela Rayner look set to wreak yet more havoc on the UK economy.
Throw in Energy Secretary Ed Miliband and we might as well have voted the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse into power.
I’m not forecasting conquest, war, famine, and death this year, although no doubt the world will see plenty of that.
But I do foresee inflation, recession, tax hikes and strikes as Labour’s misfiring strategy unleashes economic chaos.
It almost makes me long for the balmy days of Rishi Sunak.
A year ago I was optimistic. Inflation was on the run, interest rates were set to fall and the UK economy was finally starting to grow.
GDP grew a healthy 1.1% in the first six months but it flatlined the moment Labour won the July election and Starmer and Reeves started telling the world what a basket case Britain is.
Then they pillaged pensioner benefits and menaced us with tax hikes, while all the time lavishing themselves with freebies.
The UK stock market flatlined and £100billion of companies quit the FTSE, the highest rate since the financial crisis in 2009.
Having laid waste to economic confidence, the stage is set for a grim 2025.
In April, Reeves will ravage business with £40billion of tax hikes. By then, we may already be in recession.
Inflation could soon race past 3%. Shockingly, some analysts now fear the Bank of England will have to increase interest rates rather than cut them, to keep a lid on prices.
Mortgage rates have already started to climb.
Resurgent inflation isn’t entirely Labour’s fault. Almost everything US president-elect Donald Trump plans will throw fuel on the fire.
But Reeves must take a huge share of the blame for leaving us so exposed.
More than 100,000 jobs will be destroyed as companies stop hiring and start firing.
The damage will be compounded by Angela Rayner’s employment rights bill, which will add another £5billion to business costs and again, deter hiring.
We can also expect a fresh wave of strikes as trade unions see Labour as a pushover.
As the economy slows, Reeves will discover her sums don’t add up. As a result, she’ll be back for more taxes by the Autumn.
UK borrowing costs are even higher than after the Liz Truss mini-Budget. This costs billions in extra interest payments. Soon we may have to pay even more.
Reeves plans to borrow an extra £30 billion this year, in a desperate bit to improve our ailing public services.
In doing so, she had to fiddle her own fiscal rules.
Given dismal public sector productivity, most of that £30billion will be squandered.
I’ll stop. I’m being too gloomy. Perhaps the global economy will grow, and dig Labour out of a hole. Maybe the Bank of England will save Labour by slashing interest rates to the bone.
But failing that, the outlook is bleak. Oh well, Happy New Year everyone.
