What a spectacular day in the office for Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride. Against the gloomy backdrop of poor growth predictions and increasing economic uncertainty, his stinging rebuttal to Rachel Reeves’ spring statement practically wrote itself. “This is a consequence of her choices. She is the architect of her own misfortune,” he told the House – and he was right, it’s what everyone was thinking.

Stride was also correct when he said Reeves had “fiddled” her target, which she then missed. Despite her pledge to grow her way out of Britain’s economic and fiscal crisis, Reeves has only increased borrowing plans. This year, the Government will borrow £10billion more than outlined in October’s Budget, with a further £47.5billion expected over the next Parliament.

Stride was right too when he threw the failures of Reeves’s past policy decisions back in her face: the changes to fiscal rules, the hike in national insurance contributions from employers, winter fuel payment cuts and the family farms inheritance tax. These were all choices, he said – and she made all the wrong ones.

The most brutal blow, however, came when he pointed out how Ms Reeves was blaming everyone but herself for stalled growth. She can point the finger at Trump’s tariffs, Putin’s war in Ukraine and the Conservatives as much as she likes but it won’t change the fact that Britain’s economy is a mess of her own creation.

Almost eight months into her tenure and slashed growth projections, high inflation, and a flatlining economy don’t exactly inspire confidence. As much as Reeves desperately wants to blame the Tories, Britain had the highest growth projections among G7 countries before her disastrous October budget.

Now, record numbers of high net worth and skilled individuals are moving abroad, a huge worry considering 10% of the highest-income taxpayers contribute over 60% of income tax receipts. A fleeing tax base will ultimately mean the rest of us paying higher taxes. To say that the Chancellor’s time in 11 Downing Street has left much to be desired would be an understatement.

The OBR’s updated forecast has halved growth projections — down to 1% this year, followed by 1.9% in 2026, 1.8% in 2027, 1.7% in 2028, and 1.8% by the end of the forecast. Hardly inspiring stuff. And it is against these bleak predictions of stagnation that Rachel Reeves and the Government are still trying to convince us that their “Plan for Change” is working. In what world are they living?

Amazingly, the deluded Chancellor boasted how “proud” she was of her record. But is she proud that the OBR expects inflation to average 3.2% this year instead of the 2.5% it anticipated in October with lower levels of productivity?

Is she proud that the tax burden is still on track to hit a record high of 37.7% of GDP in 2027-28, up from 35.3% this year? Real earnings are set to stagnate in 2026 and 2027, before struggling to a 0.5% improvement in 2029. I’m guessing she’s proud of that too.

Reeves also allegedly found £15billion worth of cuts spreading across welfare, the civil service and the NHS. On welfare specifically, she confirmed that after further benefit cuts are factored in, the OBR have scored the welfare reforms at just £3.4 billion – a measly sum considering that the sickness and disability benefits bill alone is set to soar to over £100 billion by 2030. Tinkering around and hoping for the best clearly isn’t changing things.

Our politicians seem so adrift from the reality of ordinary Britons that you sometimes have to wonder whether they inhabit the same country as us. The solutions to many of the country’s problems seem blindingly obvious to everyone except the people in Westminster. Cutting Whitehall, reforming disability benefits, and doing away with the asylum system are obvious places to start.

Resentment is high over the billions we are shelling out to house illegal migrants and asylum seekers in hotels while hundreds of thousands of homeless people sleep rough on our streets. If we have to cut public spending, surely that would be the easiest place to start?

The desperate PR spin the Government is trying to put on things would be hilarious if it weren’t so tragic. Even Keir Starmer’s point about cutting the size of the state would be appreciated if his Chancellor hadn’t just announced a new quango: the Defence Growth Board to “drive innovation” in defence spending. Since coming to power in July, Labour has set up 27 new quangos already!

As long as Labour continues to rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic, Britain’s economic woes will only worsen. And they’ll have no one to blame but themselves.