L

Lord Leigh of Hurley (Con)

Speaking in the House of Lords on 26 March 2026

Debate

Middle East: Economic Update

Contribution

My Lords, while the Minister is not transferring to the Diplomatic Service—we would miss him greatly—there does seem to be a sense of denial in the question by the noble Lord, Lord Eatwell, and the Minister’s answer. GDP is now expected to expand by just 0.7% this year, according to the OECD interim economic outlook, which he will know was published today. That is down by 0.5 percentage points from the organisation’s prior prediction of 1.2%. This would put the UK second last in the G7 growth table and represents the largest downgrade in growth projections for any G20 economy. Rather than denial, we need to face reality. I am particularly concerned that, in the debate on this matter in the other place earlier this week, the Chancellor kept referring to the fact that borrowing will fall. Does the Minister think she really understands the difference between deficit and debt?

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