The Shadow Chancellor, Sir Mel Stride MP, spoke at a Centre for Policy Studies event this morning, where ‘Breaking the Cycle‘, a new economic report by CPS research fellow Dr Gerard Lyons, warning UK debt could hit 100% of GDP this decade without urgent action, was launched.
Sir Mel Stride has called for ‘radical’ economic reform to break Britain out of its cycle of weak growth, rising debt and higher taxes.
The new report shows that economic output per person remains below pre-pandemic levels, while the government is spending nearly £1.5 trillion a year, and calls for fundamental reforms to restore growth and prosperity.
Speaking at the launch of the ‘Breaking the Cycle’ report, Shadow Chancellor Sir Mel Stride MP said:
‘We are living beyond our means, and the key to escaping from where we’re heading at the moment, which is a fairly dark place through time, is going to be growth and in particular growth per capita and increasing productivity.’
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‘We’re paying servicing costs of one hundred billion a year on our debt. That’s twice what we spend on defence. And indeed, if debt servicing were a government department, it would be the third-largest spending department in Whitehall.’
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‘The kind of managerial incrementalism that we’ve had in our approach to the economy is not going to cut it. What we need to do is something that is pretty radical on a number of fronts, and the need for that is huge.’
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
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- Dr Gerard Lyons is a senior economist and Research Fellow at the Centre for Policy Studies
- Watch Shadow Chancellor, Sir Mel Stride MP’s opening remarks at today’s launch here
- ‘Breaking the Cycle: Three foundations to boost British prosperity, drive up growth and escape the debt trap’ is available here
- For further information and media requests, please contact Emma Revell on 07931 698246 and [email protected] or Melisa Tourt on 07399 251110 and [email protected]
- The Centre for Policy Studies is one of the oldest and most influential think tanks in Westminster. With a focus on taxation, economic growth, housing, immigration, and energy abundance, its goal is to develop policies that widen enterprise, ownership and opportunity
Date Added: Monday 15th September 2025
