The Shadow Chancellor has launched a scathing attack on the Government's economic management, accusing Labour of reckless fiscal policies that threaten Britain's financial stability.
Mel Stride warned that mounting Government debt has reached its "peak level since the 1960s", with taxpayers now facing an enormous burden from interest payments.
Speaking on GB News Originals, he claimed the Government had abandoned prudent financial controls to enable unprecedented borrowing levels, declaring Britain "can't afford" Labour.
GB News
|Mel Stride has warned Britons that they will be 'drowning in debt' as a result of Rachel Reeves
Stride explained that interest payments on Government borrowing directly reduce funds available for essential services: "Government debt, why does it matter how much we borrowed? One reason is because we have to pay interest on it, that's known as the servicing cost.
"And the higher the servicing cost, the less the Government can spend elsewhere, like on schools, hospitals, defence or do other things like cut taxes or perhaps even pay back some of that debt."
He claimed that while the previous Conservative Government maintained stringent borrowing restrictions requiring debt reduction forecasts, Labour had altered these regulations.
"But this Labour Government have changed the rules to let them borrow more and allow the debt to rise higher and higher, to borrow, borrow, borrow so they can spend, spend, spend on a colossal scale," Stride stated.
The Shadow Chancellor revealed that annual interest payments on Britain's national debt have surpassed £100billion.
GETTY | Reeves will be forced to break a Labour manifesto pledge, economists have warned
"So how much is the servicing cost on this ballooning debt? It's over £100billion a year. That's twice what we spend on defence," Stride explained.
He noted that if debt servicing were classified as a government department, it would rank as the third-largest area of public expenditure.
"Except this is money simply going to our creditors, not there to support our vital public services," the Conservative politician warned.
Stride projected that under current Labour policies, these servicing costs would climb beyond £130billion annually.
He argued that lenders perceive weak growth, increasing unemployment and poor economic governance, resulting in higher interest demands.
GB News
|Stride declared that Britain 'can't afford Labour'
"In fact, currently, thanks to Labour, our borrowing costs are amongst the highest across advanced economies, higher than the US, Italy, Canada, France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Japan and even Greece," Stride claimed.
Stride accused the Chancellor of breaking electoral commitments regarding spending and borrowing levels. He highlighted that Rachel Reeves had promised minimal additional expenditure and pledged to maintain Conservative fiscal parameters during the campaign.
"She said she would use the same figures as the Conservative Government when setting her fiscal rules. Then she changed the rules to try to hide all the extra debt and pretend it's all under control," the Shadow Chancellor stated.
He questioned the Chancellor's credibility following policy reversals and economic turmoil.
Stride concluded: "It seems all but inevitable that Rachel Reeves will be coming back for yet more tax rises come the Autumn Budget despite her promises, and that means a summer of cruel uncertainty, with businesses and families waiting to hear what's next on the Chancellor's list of tax rises, damaging confidence in our economy still further.
"One thing of which we can be sure is we can't afford to go on like this. We can't afford Labour."