Ben Habib has hit out at Chancellor Rachel Reeves's praise of Britain's economic growth, claiming she is "talking unadulterated nonsense".

The UK economy grew more quickly than expected in the first three months of the year, the Office for National Statistics has said.

Responding to the figures, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the growth figures showed Labour was "making the right choices" but acknowledged "there is more to do".

She said: "Today’s growth figures show the strength and potential of the UK economy. In the first three months of the year, the UK economy has grown faster than the US, Canada, France, Italy and Germany.

Ben Habib has hit out at Rachel Reeves's optimism for the economy

"Our plan for change is working. But I know there is more to do and that is why I’m determined we go further and faster to make working people better off."

Hitting out at the Chancellor, Chairman of the Great British Political Action Committee Ben Habib claimed that the Labour Government is "obsessed" with GDP, but should be focussing on more areas of the economy.

Habib told GB News: "Our Government's obsession and successive administration's obsession with looking at GDP, I think, is a false obsession.

"They should have been looking at productivity in this country. They should have been looking at GDP per capita. They should have been looking at the number of people who are actually in work.

"How many people are not having to rely on Universal Credit in order to survive?

"Our national debt needs to be under control. Taxation needs to be at a level which people can afford to pay their taxes, and then have enough left over to live on."

The UK economy grew by 0.7 per cent in the first quarter of the year PA / ONS

Highlighting the surging levels of Britons on Universal Credit, Habib stressed that he was "horrified" the Chancellor was "not focussed on the worst metric of the lot", rather than a 0.7 per cent growth figure.

Habib claimed: "And every metric, with the exception of this one metric in the last quarter, is moving in an adverse direction. And I think perhaps the worst metric of the lot - I was horrified to see this - is the number of people now on Universal Credit.

"Before the pandemic, there were about three million people on Universal Credit. When we came out, and I've been monitoring it to some extent since then, we came out of the pandemic with over six million people on Universal Credit. That is a sign that the United Kingdom literally is not working."

Detailing some other "worrying" metrics of the current British economy, Habib told GB News that Government debt is "accelerating away", resulting in an increase of either "taxation or welfare benefits".

Habib told GB News that the Labour Government is 'economically out of control'

Habib said: "I think the other really bad metrics that you won't hear Rachel Reeves revealing to the public is that Government debt is accelerating away from even what the OBR had forecast when she made those massive spending obligations in the budget last year, when she raised employers' National Insurance.

"So she is now going to have to face either an increase in taxation or a cut of welfare and benefits. Obviously, she needs to get welfare and benefits under control. But this is a Government actually, frankly, that is out of economic control."

He concluded: "As far as our economy is concerned, we have been practising the same economic model for the last 30 years, and they keep doing more of the same and not realising that it's getting worse and worse and worse."