Rishi Sunak claims UK economy is getting 'on the right track' ahead of Spring Budget
4 March 2024, 11:51
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said the UK economy is getting "on the right track" while visiting the site of the former Honda car factory.
The Japanese car giant's plant in Swindon, Wiltshire, shut in 2021 with the loss of thousands of jobs and the site was sold to developer Panattoni to turn into a logistics hub.
Addressing Panattoni staff working on the demolition and reconstruction of the site, the prime minister said in the last five years the firm has begun developing more than 25 million square feet of industrial space.
With Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to deliver his "prudent and responsible" pre-election Budget on Wednesday, Mr Sunak said: "I think that's a huge vote of confidence in the UK, and it shows that the work we're doing to get the economy on the right track is paying off.
"Now, I'm determined, as prime minister, to make sure that the UK is the best place in the world to invest and grow a business like this.
"And that's why we've been taking ambitious steps, like making full-expensing permanent, which is the biggest business tax cut in modern British history.
"It's all about supporting businesses like this to invest in local areas and create jobs and opportunity for the future."
Read more: Chancellor considers 'further cuts to public spending' as he aims boost Budget tax giveaway
The closure of the Honda plant was announced in 2019 in the wake of Brexit - although the firm insisted that was not the reason, instead blaming unprecedented changes in the global car industry.
The visit comes months after it was revealed the UK slipped into a recession after the economy shrank by 0.2 per cent at the end of 2023.
Reacting to the figures by the Office for National Statistics, Mr Hunt said "low growth is not a surprise" but insisted the economy is still "turning a corner".
Anna Leach, deputy chief economist at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), told LBC: "December's GDP number suggests that the UK narrowly fell into a technical recession in the second half of the year. This brings to a close a pretty stagnant year for UK economic growth.
"The CBI's most recent surveys suggest this year has started better than last year ended, with expectations for services and manufacturing in positive territory and the drag from higher interest rates expected to diminish."