3 Words Derail Ex-Tory MP's Attempt To Boast About How The Conservatives Helped The Economy

A former Tory minister’s attempt to boast about the Conservatives’ impact on the UK economy was effortlessly derailed on live TV last night.

According to the latest from the Office for National Statistics, gross domestic product showed no signs of growth in July for the second month in a row,  despite economists’ hope that it would grow by around 0.2%.

It’s a blow to new PM Keir Starmer, who has promised to put economic growth at the heart of his new plan for the government.

Andrea Leadsom, who served as a minister under five PMs over the last decade, then tried to put the boot in on Wednesday by suggesting the stagnation had nothing to do with the Tories’ 14 years in power.

She told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge: “It is the fact that what Labour, coming in, have inherited was the fastest growing economy in the G7 –”

But her attempts were quickly undone by Labour peer David Blunkett, who was appearing on the same programme.

Laughing, he interrupted her: “Well, it’s just flatlined. It’s just flatlined!”

“Well you’re all agreeing that it’s just flatlining, but there is such a thing as business confidence,” Leadsom, who left the Commons earlier this year, claimed.

But Blunkett was not having any of it.

He said: “Oh come on, it didn’t flatline between June and the end of July!”

The economy fell into a shallow recession at the end of last year under Rishi Sunak.

It recovered in early 2024, and did become the fastest-growing economy in the G7 for the fast half of the year – but the UK had already fallen so far behind other nations by that point, this rebound was seen as more of a catch-up effort.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) also predicted in May, before Labour were elected, that the UK would fall to the bottom of the G7 growth league in 2025.

However, Leadsom maintained that Labour’s “massive majority” of 167 in the Commons has hit “business confidence”.

However, strategists at the US bank JP Morgan claimed in June that a Labour election victory would be a “net positive” for markets.

Responding to the economic flatline, chancellor Rachel Reeves said: “I am under no illusion about the scale of the challenge we face and I will be honest with the British people that change will not happen overnight.

“Two quarters of positive economic growth does not make up for 14 years of stagnation.

“That is why we are taking the long-term decisions now to fix the foundations of our economy.”