Daily Mail editorial warns spendthrift economics threaten Britain's economy

A Daily Mail commentary argues that Labour's spendthrift economics threaten Britain's economy, pointing to a sharp rise in public borrowing and a swelling public sector.

The column says public borrowing climbed to £18 billion last month, far above expectations, even as tax receipts reached record highs. It notes that while the overall number of jobs in Britain has fallen by about 153,000 since Rachel Reeves's Budget last year, the public sector has grown by roughly 75,000 taxpayer-funded roles since Labour took power, a development the piece frames as a sign of imbalanced fiscal priorities.

In the column, Labour's proposed policies — including expanded workers' rights and the idea of a four-day workweek in some sectors — are presented as growth-suppressing. It argues that the government is too feeble to trim public sector budgets and cites backbench challenges to a proposed £5 billion welfare cut as evidence. The piece warns that economists' warnings of a looming 'doom loop' may come to pass if higher spending continues without a credible plan to balance the books, asserting that a continued cycle of higher taxation on businesses and better-off individuals could erode private-sector vitality as national debt nears £2.9 trillion.

The Daily Mail Commentary also takes aim at the government's handling of migration, characterizing the 'one in, one out' deal with France as shrouded in secrecy and insisting that the British public deserves more information about numbers, costs, and security checks. The piece recounts a case highlighted by the Daily Mail in which an Egyptian national who committed a rape in London’s Hyde Park was found to be a convicted terrorist in his home country, arguing that such disclosures raise questions about the rigor of Home Office checks. It says the Home Secretary's refusal to provide broad details about who is being allowed into Britain under the deal is unacceptable, and warns that if crimes are linked to migrants admitted through the scheme, the Home Office's credibility could be damaged.

The opinion piece closes by insisting that the government must restore credibility on public spending and immigration policy to avert further erosion of trust in fiscal stewardship. While it reflects one editorial viewpoint, the column lays out a broader debate about how the balance between public investment, taxation, and migration policy could shape Britain's economic trajectory in the coming years.