Speaking to Nick Ferrari on LBC this morning, Pat McFadden stood up to defend Labour’s latest position of principle – targeting the families of public servants. McFadden thrice repeated Labour’s attacks on the Prime Minister’s wife, before Ferrari asked Pat to say whether politician’s wives and families were all fair game. McFadden did not deny the children could be targets…

The Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Pat McFadden, the man whom if Labour win will be the second-most senior Minister controlling the government’s purse strings. Surely a Scottish thrifty and responsible spender…

In 2009, McFadden was found to have charged £5,581 in legal fees and stamp duty to the taxpayer when purchasing his second home. Having purchased the property, it obviously needed furnishing. McFadden came cap in hand to the taxpayer once again, this time spending £4,807.41 on furniture.

Sparing no expense, he forked out £995 on a sofa, £995 on an oak veneer bed frame, £250 for an oak veneer bedside chest, £395 on a walnut veneer dining table, and £356 for leather dining room chairs. McFadden shopped mostly at either Habitat or Heal’s, although you wouldn’t know that based on the expenses sheet he published on his website during the 2009 scandal. According to the Telegraph, the brand names were often censored…

He also spent £969.47 on lights and curtains (£337.84 on John Lewis alone), £584 on a mattress, £263.50 on crockery and cutlery, £214.34 on other kitchenware, and £206.80 on the installation of a new TV ariel. Plus £71 on bins…

Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury Pat McFadden tells Times Radio…

“We won’t go into the general election, promising to increase the basic rate of tax for 30 million people. So if the government sticks to this, and brings forward that… one pence reduction next April, then we’re not going to go into the election, pledging to raise it.”

Gross domestic product (GDP) fell by a less than expected 0.2% in December 2021 to equal its pre-coronavirus pandemic level (February 2020). The consensus of economists was that GDP would fall 0.6%. Overall the UK economy recovered by 7.5% in 2021. The slight fall in December can be attributed to output in consumer-facing services falling by 3.0% in the month, mainly driven by a 3.7% fall in retail trade in the face of Omicron.

Pat McFadden, Labour’s Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, responding to this morning’s weak GDP figures is audacious:

“The reality is the way the Government runs our economy is trapping us in a high tax, low growth cycle. Despite government bluster, with their current plans our position is not expected to improve. The latest Bank of England forecast suggests that growth will slow to a crawl next year. That would be the slowest growth of any G7 economy. Rising taxes, rising prices, and a squeeze on wages and living standards sit squarely on the shoulders of the Conservatives.”

Even if the low-tax rhetoric of Labour lacks credibility, it highlights the strategic Tory mistake of putting up taxes on workers and destroying their unique selling point as the party of low taxes. Labour points out that the Bank of England is predicting anaemic GDP growth could be as low as 1.25% for next year. The Tories choosing the high tax, low growth path is an open goal for Labour…