Starmer: Unemployment jump not caused by my government
The Prime Minister has denied the 10 per cent rise in unemployment since last year’s election is the fault of his government, arguing that the recently struck trade deals with India and the United States will boost jobs and the UK economy.
During a fiery exchange at Prime Minister’s Questions, Keir Starmer accused Kemi Badenoch of “talking the country down” after the leader of the opposition questioned his government’s record on jobs.
Referring to recent jobs data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS), Badenoch said: “Yesterday, we learned that unemployment is up 10% since the election. Why does the Prime Minister think unemployment is rising on his watch?”
Starmer replied: “[Badenoch] comes here every week to talk the country down. We’ve got 200,000 new jobs, record investment, four interest rates cuts, contrast that to the disastrous Liz Truss mini-budget, inflation through the roof and a £22 billion black hole.”
The ONS figures, released on Tuesday, revealed that the unemployment rate in the first quarter of 2025 was the highest since the summer of 2021.
Badenoch asked Starmer to account for job cuts in major UK companies like Sainsbury’s, Tesco, and Santander, as well as to the closure of the Beales department store, which, according to Badenoch, “survived two world wars … but couldn’t survive this Labour government”.
Starmer responded by pointing out the government’s achievements in getting “200,000 new jobs” and “record investment.”
The Prime Minister also used the session to herald the trade deals the UK struck with India and the US last week, which the previous government had made ultimately unsuccessful efforts towards.
He argued the deals would protect jobs in automotive manufacturing, steel production, and whisky distilleries by reducing tariffs on exports and opening up new and sizeable markets.
“Better rights for workers are on the table, they vote against them.” he said.
Badenoch responded: “You cannot have employment rights without employment.”
The leader of the opposition added that business groups in the UK are unhappy with the Employment Rights Bill on the grounds that it will be “deeply damaging to growth”.
Badenoch blamed the Labour government’s “jobs tax,” referring to the increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions make on behalf of their workers, which the government hiked from 13.8 per cent to 15 per cent at the October Budget.