GB News host Martin Daubney has rebuked Labour's attack on Reform this week by highlighting the party's spiralling spending costs since taking office.
His takedown came 24 hours before Sir Keir Starmer warned Britons against voting for Nigel Farage following days of damning polling for Labour in a furious anti-Reform attack speech.
The Prime Minister, in a bitter bite-back to Farage's landmark policy proposals on Tuesday, is campaigning against Reform UK's so-called "Liz Truss-style" economic plans.
His broadside followed a tweet posted to Labour's official account a day before, which read: 'You just announced £60billion of spending commitments you have no idea how you’ll pay for.'
The tweet, which was read as a pointed attack at Reform, sparked the ire of Daubney, who accused Labour in a series of posts on X of spending lavishly since sweeping to power, claiming that its spending splurge dwarfs that of Reform commitments.
The GB News host cited a litany of examples, such as the Chagos deal, which Starmer insists will cost £3.4billion to lease back Diego Garcia. However, as Daubney points out, the Conservatives believe it will be closer to £30bn.
According to the Tories, the UK is set to pay £101million for 99 years, which is equivalent to just under £10bn in total. After supplementary payments and inflation are added on, the figure comes out closer to £30bn.
Labour's spending has cost 8.6 times more than the '£22billion black hole' they found themselves in
GB News
Labour's boost to the public sector comes at a huge cost until the next general election, with an additional £47bn having to be forked out by the Government to fund the 6.9million public sector workers in the UK, Daubney points out, citing figures published in The Telegraph.
The UK has committed £22bn to carbon capture after emitting 384.2million tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2023, according to Daubney, who cites provisional Government figures.
As the figures indicate, despite only contributing to less than one per cent of carbon emissions worldwide, the UK is a leading spearhead in tackling the climate crisis.
The GB News host also cites the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Ed Miliband's confirmation of Labour's increase of £11.6bn to overseas climate aid, stating that wealthy nations "must lead by example with action starting at home".
Following on from Rishi Sunak, Starmer has continued to provide significant funding support to Ukraine at around £3bn per year, Daubney points out.
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Indeed, the Government has pushed for more spending in defence, committing to an "increase of £13.4bn year-on-year compared to where we are today".
Starmer claimed that his Government has an "ambition" to increase spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP, potentially to three per cent in the next parliament.
A huge £14.6billion increase in borrowing has been forecasted by the Office for Budget Responsibility, totalling the amount borrowed for public sector net borrowing to £151.9bn, Daubney writes on X.
This includes the bump up in pay for train drivers and junior doctors in September 2024. All told, Daubney Labour's total spending to be around £190bn.
Starmer's Government has spent £190bn since coming to power
PAUsers were outraged by Daubney's expenditure breakdown, with one user writing on X: "That’s a massive financial commitment across the board. Important to scrutinise whether these investments will truly benefit the public or just add to the burden. Transparency and accountability are key."
Others questioned the accuracy of Daubney's reporting, but GB News provided his sources so users can scrutinise themselves.
He added: "My list might not be complete. You might query some of it (but it's all out there if you look). But, it adds up to significantly more than £60 billion, even before U-turns on WFA and PIP benefits."
Criticism has come Labour's way for their expenditures, with several Red Wall voters preferring to spend the £101million coughed up every year as part of Starmer's Chagos handover deal on the NHS instead.
Merlin Strategy found that 36 per cent would choose to spend the cash on tackling the crisis in the NHS, including 39 per cent of Labour voters.
Despite all this spending, the Government is still under considerable pressure, with recent polling showing Reform UK has jumped into a five-point lead.
The poll showed 27 per cent of Red Wall adults would pick Farage as the next PM, with Starmer coming up short in second on 24 per cent.
GB News has approached No10 for comment.
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