WHAT THEY SAID:

"Labour will get Britain working again." That was the slogan. On every leaflet, every billboard, every TV appearance. Keir Starmer promised economic growth. Rachel Reeves promised fiscal responsibility. They were going to fix everything the Tories broke.

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED:

JP Morgan, the biggest bank on Wall Street, now predicts UK unemployment will hit 5.5% by late spring. That's higher than the peak during COVID. Higher than when the entire country was locked in its homes and businesses were literally forbidden from opening.

Let that comparison land. A global pandemic that shut down the world economy produced less unemployment than Rachel Reeves' budget.

The October 2024 Autumn Budget hit businesses with a £25 billion national insurance raid. Minimum wage went up at the same time. The result was entirely predictable to everyone except the Treasury.

Businesses are cutting hours. Cutting overtime. Cutting staff. The British Retail Consortium says 61% of retail finance directors plan to reduce hours and jobs. The cost of employing a full-time entry-level worker rose 10% in a single year.

Retail. Hospitality. The sectors that employ the most working-class people in Britain. The exact people Labour claims to represent.

JP Morgan's chief UK economist Allan Monks said the national insurance hike "disproportionately affected businesses employing higher proportions of lower paid workers." No kidding.

The Bank of England might cut rates. That's the silver lining. But rate cuts don't bring back the jobs that have already gone. They don't help the 22-year-old who just lost their pub shifts. They don't help the single mum whose retail hours got slashed.

Labour promised growth. They delivered the worst unemployment figures since a once-in-a-century pandemic.

The receipts don't lie.