A TOP Labour MP has been skewered for “refusing to oppose a single measure” in the latest Tory Budget.

Shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden was criticised for an appearance on BBC Newsnight in which he was unable to list any points of difference between Labour and the Tories’ economic plans.

During an interview with McFadden, Newsnight host Victoria Derbyshire said: “You’re backing all of today’s Budget as far as I can … you haven’t said you oppose anything.

“You’re backing all of today’s Budget, they’ve taken on some of your ideas, obviously you support that as well.

“You’ve got identical fiscal rules. How does Labour’s economic policy differ then from the Conservatives?”

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McFadden replied: “Well look, we’re putting economic growth at the heart of our policy.

“Where we do differ, we will say where the money comes from. That’s important and a duty of candour to people. We can turn the page on the kind of chaos that we’ve had in recent years.

“If we get better economic growth, we generate the wealth needed for our public services and we get away from the doom-loop that we’ve been in of low growth, increasing tax burden, and creaking public services.

"You’ve got to break out of that and you can’t do it with the kind of economic debate that we’ve been having at the moment.”

The National: Pat McFadden

The Labour MP, a member of Keir Starmer’s inner circle, has come under criticism for failing to draw dividing lines between his party and the Conservatives.

Critics took to social media to express their dismay. Commentator and National columnist Gerry Hassan said: “Pat McFadden, Labour's election co-ordinator refuses to oppose a SINGLE measure in Jeremy Hunt's Budget.

“This is a new low in Labour's abject cowardice and surrender to economic conservatism.”

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One Twitter/X user added: “Pat McFadden was pinned down by Victoria Derbyshire, he was forced to admit there is no difference between Labour and Tories, they will impose Tory austerity.”

Another said: “Can’t believe Pat McFadden on Newsnight saying Labour accept all of the Tories budget measures announced today. What is the point of Labour? Scotland we can do so much better on our own.”

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves also came in for criticism for hitting out at people on sickness benefits when asked what Labour would do differently from the Tories.

She said: “What we need is a plan for growth. We need to get people back to work.

"There are 700,000 more people due to be on sickness benefits and that of course is a huge cost to the economy, with the benefits paid out but also the huge loss in terms of what they could be contributing.”

Responding to her comments on the BBC on Thursday morning, one Twitter/X user said: "She's absolutely awful. No message of hope and improving people's lives."

The National: Rachel Reeves

Reeves (above) has also hit out at the Chancellor for his ambition to end the “unfair” system of National Insurance Contributions.

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It is a flat tax on income earned through work – which the Tories have called a “double tax”.

But Reeves said talk of abolishing it altogether was “irresponsible”.

She told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “You get rid of national insurance altogether, that’s a cost of £46 billion every single year. And I think it is really irresponsible to start making promises without the faintest idea of where the money’s going to come from.”

It comes as expert Budget analysis overnight suggested this parliament is the first in modern history to see a drop in living standards, with real household disposable income set to fall by 0.9%.

Labour appear also have been wrongfooted by the Chancellor’s spending announcement on Wednesday after he pinched their policy to abolish non-dom status.

Starmer and Reeves had previously relied on the policy as a key plank of their spending commitments.