Liam Halligan has issued a grave alert about Britain's financial trajectory, cautioning that the nation faces an imminent economic catastrophe under Labour's current policies.
Halligan characterised the situation as the country "driving the economy off a cliff, whilst operating what he termed an unsustainable "Ponzi scheme" of borrowing.
Speaking to GB News, Halligan said: "Every person in this country effectively owes £42,000. It’s absolutely horrendous.
"To put it into perspective: a billion is a thousand million, and a trillion is a thousand billion. These are mind-blowing numbers.
GB NEWS
|Liam Halligan said we are "hurtling towards an economic cliff"
"And the really terrifying part is that of the £150billion we borrowed last year, £110billion of that went just on paying interest on existing debt.
"That, economists would say, is a Ponzi scheme. It’s completely unsustainable.
"The political and media class Labour, the Tories, Reform, all of them but particularly the Government, need to get real. We’re driving the economy off a cliff.
"We’re heading for a repeat of the summer of 1976. No, that wasn’t just a long hot summer of ice lollies it was when Britain had to go cap in hand to the International Monetary Fund for a bailout.
"We are now on the same path. And if that kind of fiscal crisis hits, it’s the poor who will suffer most."
The October Budget included significant tax increases, notably affecting employer National Insurance contributions.
These higher rates have coincided with a sharp drop in recruitment, which has led to reduced National Insurance revenues due to fewer jobs being created.
Increases to Capital Gains Tax have also reportedly backfired, with revenue falling as asset holders delay selling.
Halligan said the economy is being stalled by the high taxes introduced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
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He warned that Chancellor Reeves attempts to minimise concerns by claiming Britain faces a global predicament shared by other nation
He criticised her attempts to downplay concerns by citing a global economic context, arguing that the UK is now an outlier.
Halligan highlighted that Britain faces the highest borrowing costs among G7 countries and carries the largest share of index-linked debt, where government interest payments rise automatically with inflation.
With inflation at 3.6 per cent—almost double the Bank of England’s target—debt servicing costs could increase further.