An awful lot has gone wrong since July 5. While the economy grew a total of 1.2% in the first half of the year, the recovery stalled as soon as PM Keir Starmer started talking down the economy and panicking everyone over the Budget.
GDP grew by just 0.1% in first three months under Labour. In September, the economy actually shrank by 0.1%.
Then chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered her disastrous Budget in October, and a bad situation got even worse.
Reeves’ Budget onslaught will also put 125,000 jobs at risk and cost the economy £10billion.
Now there’s something else to add to that dismal list.
Research exclusive to the Daily Express shows our foreign holidays are getting more expensive under Labour.
As gloom sets in, sterling has slumped against a host of currencies in the five months since Labour won the election.
Sorry for putting a dampener on your holidays.
Anyone booking some winter sun or lining up next year’s spring and summer holidays will find their money doesn’t travel as far as it did.
The pound has now fallen against 10 out of 15 of the most popular currencies since July.
The figures come from foreign exchange service No1 Currency, whose managing director Simon Phillips said: “Labour’s post-election honeymoon, and the brief surge in sterling that accompanied it, seems a very long time ago.”
Sterling now buys less of the most popular holiday currencies. “British travellers planning a trip this winter will find their pounds simply won’t stretch as far as they did in summer.”
Phillips said this will make it more expensive to escape the winter blues. “The falls have been especially sharp against the currencies of several destinations that jump in popularity during the cold winter months, including Dubai, South Africa and Thailand.”
Sterling has fallen 8.1% against the Japanese yen, 6.9% against the Thai baht, 5.4% against the Sri Lankan rupee and 2% against the South African rand.
Happily for those hoping for some Florida sunshine, sterling is down less than 1% against the US dollar.
It’s not all bad news on the holiday front, Phillips said. Brits still take most of our holidays in Europe.
“Our research shows that the pound currently goes 2.2% further against the European single currency than on election day.”
This has nothing to do with Labour, though. “The euro, which is our most popular currency, slumped against sterling in recent days after France lurched into political chaos,” Phillips said.
At least one part of the world is getting cheaper for Brits, if for the wrong reasons. Travellers might want to avoid Paris, though.
