Richard Tice tears into Rachel Reeves's 'tax rising nightmare' ahead of Budget: 'Driving the economy off a cliff!'

Criticising Labour policy, Mr Tice said the Government must "cut wasteful spending", stating: "Very simply, we've got to cut wasteful, unproductive Government spending.

"We've got to cut daft regulations which disincentives people to work hard and to take risk and to be entrepreneurial, setting up small businesses up and down the country.

"And if you do that, then you create growth. And if you create growth, then you can have performance related tax cuts."

He added: "This Government believes the opposite. They believe that the state is the best way of spending money, it's that sort of hard socialist view of life. And that goes fine until you run out of other people's money.

"And that's what's happening at the moment, we've borrowed, just under £120billion in the first seven months of this year, and the Chancellor is in serious trouble.

"This is going to be a inflation rising, tax rising, job destroying nightmare for people to dread, frankly."

Pressed by host Ellie Costello on how the Government can help "create wealth" and make Britain a place to invest, Mr Tice responded: "It's very simple, it's actually basic stuff. You make work pay by giving people an incentive to work.

"Instead, they're going to freeze the tax, tax thresholds, the income tax starting point threshold, and then you create an incentive for people to take risk to go out and spend their money on creating a business, a small business employing people.

"If you impose too many employment regulations, then people won't employ people.

"If you lift the minimum wage, which it looks like they're doing for youngsters by too high a percentage by over double the rate of inflation, don't be surprised if businesses start to not employ young people, and that's an absolute tragedy."

He added: "I've just heard at the beginning of this week from major recruitment firms up and down the country and businesses are they're literally freezing new employment, particularly of of of temporary workers and young workers.

"This is an absolute tragedy imposed by a Government that has not a clue what they're doing. They're essentially driving our economy in some sort of nightmare multi car pile up over the cliff."

Warning that the rise to the minimum wage will take Britain in the "wrong direction", Mr Tice told GB News: "The consequence is if you increase the minimum wage too high, don't be surprised if businesses say I can't afford it and therefore I'm going to employ no one, and that doesn't help anybody.

"That means that actually that young person looking for their first or second job out of school or out of college doesn't get a job.

"It means they're on benefits, and then the danger is they get trapped on benefits and that's a cost to the state, not a benefit to the state."

He added: "So what the Government should do is incentivise individuals to work by making work pay, and they should incentivise entrepreneurs, small business owners to take more risk, to work harder.

"Set the alarm clock a little bit earlier. That's how you create entrepreneurial enthusiasm, excitement that creates growth.

"And that's what the nation understands and wants. But instead, no, it's doom and gloom, the state knows best.

"Nanny Rachel knows best, and it's taking us in completely the wrong direction. Borrowing is out of control, spending is out of control and growth is flatlining."

In a pre-Budget statement to the nation, Rachel Reeves has warned that Britons are "angry at unfairness" in the economy before she unveils her Budget.

She claimed Labour had started to see results in the past year with "wages rising faster than inflation, hospital waiting lists coming down, and our economy growing faster and stronger than people expected".

Ms Reeves said: "But I know there is more to do... I know that the cost of living is still bearing down on family finances, I know that people feel frustrated at the pace of change, or angry at the unfairness in our economy.

"I have to be honest that the damage done from austerity, a chaotic Brexit and the pandemic were worse than we thought.

"But I'm not going to duck those challenges, and nor will I accept that our past must define our future. It doesn't have to."