City veteran Lord Rose: UK is ‘at the edge of a crisis’
Lord Stuart Rose has launched a scathing attack on the government’s economic strategy, claiming the UK is “at the edge of a crisis.”
The City veteran told Times Radio: “I think we should all be worried about the state of Britain today.
“Now, I am absolutely an optimist in my life. I’ve been working for over half a century. And today, I sit here and I look at the state of the nation and I say to myself, I believe we’re genuinely at the edge of a crisis.
“If we don’t take some radical action and take notice of what’s going on, we’re going to find ourselves in a very difficult spot.”
He urged the government to change course.
“When the circumstances change, then you have to change your actions. And this government came in and said that it would actually bring growth as its number one priority.
“We have got no growth in the economy. If you have no growth in the economy, you’re not creating any wealth. If you haven’t got any wealth, you can’t put into the nation the services that voters want and voted for. So, we’ve got to change tack.
“There isn’t a direction of travel. There is no travel. We’re not travelling anywhere. We’re actually standing still in a lay-by while we decide what to do. That’s the real problem.
“Britain is stuck here for the next three months waiting with real anxiety to see what will happen about the next level of taxation that will come through, which will burden business and actually will not encourage growth.”
Brits need to show ‘more grit’
He has also spoken out against a rise in sick leave and benefits for Brits, arguing that the nation should ‘lean in’ and get to work.
Speaking to Times Radio, the former Asda and Marks & Spencers chief said that “we have arrived in a situation in Britain today where there is effectively no obligation to go to work”.
The number of sick days has now reached its highest level in 15 years, with staff absent for an average of almost two full working weeks over the past 12 months, according to a survey from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).
The rise in sick days has been attributed to an increase in long-term health conditions, with mental health the leading cause of absences of four weeks or more, as well as low pay discouraging Brits to work.
But Lord Rose said that Brits should “soldier on… We need to have a little bit of grit around the place”.
“We need to make sure that people understand that actually this nation needs everybody to lean in to make a contribution… it’s all our jobs to do it”, he added.
Lord Rose has previously spoken out against remote working policies, arguing that they have spawned a generation “not doing proper work”.
Speaking to BBC One’s Panorama this January, Lord Rose claimed working from home made people less productive, linking it to the “general decline” of the UK economy.
‘There has to be something wrong’
Lord Rose pointed to a sharp spike in benefits in the last two years and the 5.2m Brits classed as inactive as evidence that there was “something wrong” in Britain.
“I’m afraid life is tough. I’m afraid some people do not earn what they would like to earn… some people do actually have to struggle a little bit.
“I think self help is very important. I’m not dismissing mental health. I’m not dismissing the need that some people have for help from the state. I’m merely pointing out that I think the balance at the moment, it cannot be right,” he said.
The number of 50 to 64-year-olds who are out of work and claiming benefits has surged by 600,000 to 1.99m since February 2020.
The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), which conducted the benefits report, said the figures reflected a system that “defaults to full sickness absence”.