Trade union boss tells Labour to give UK ‘a break’ and ‘borrow to invest’

A LEADING trade union boss has said she does not agree with Labour's fiscal rules and called on the party to borrow to invest.

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has promised to retain the Tories’ commitment that debt as a proportion of GDP must be on track to fall in five years if Labour win the election on July 4.

She has ruled out borrowing to fund day-to-day spending, saying her focus will be on reforms to grow the economy.

Sharon Graham, general secretary of Unite, has claimed other countries with growing economies have a larger debt-to-GDP ratio than the UK, “so there is wiggle room”.

Graham told Sky’s Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips programme: “If you look at other countries – in France, their debt to GDP is 112%. In America, where the economy’s growing, it’s 130% debt to GDP. Ours is around about 99%. We have wiggle room. Give Britain a break.”

READ MORE: Anas Sarwar says 'Labour austerity' attacks are 'ludicrous'

She added: “These people that are out there in communities and workers, they are literally hurting beyond anything you could comprehend and what we need is the strait-jacket off a little bit, get some wiggle room there.

“Borrowing to invest is not the same as other borrowing. It’s borrowing to invest. It’s part of our balance sheet. Let’s get that done and if you don’t do that, we’ll be waiting too long.”

Unite is Labour’s largest union donor but it has refused to endorse the party’s General Election manifesto.

It comes after First Minister John Swinney warned that the Labour leader Keir Starmer will inflict “significant cuts” on public spending in Scotland if his party wins the July 4 General Election.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank has already warned of “sharp” cuts to come, regardless of whether Labour or the Conservatives win power.

It also comes after the Sunday National laid bare the scale of cuts that Labour are signed up to if they win next month.

If the party wants to get debt down and not raise taxes, then they are committed to £19 billion worth of cuts, according to the Resolution Foundation.

On Monday, Swinney said he was deeply concerned that Labour and the Tories were “debating our economic future in a parallel universe – by refusing to accept the reality of their decisions".

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, meanwhile, described the SNP warnings as "ludicrous".