18/09/2026
This didn’t start with Labour. That’s the problem.
Successive governments have spent years expanding the state while pretending the wider economy will somehow keep picking up the bill.
The Conservatives left office with public-sector employment already rising. In June 2024 it was up 76,000 on the year, with central government employment up 120,000.
Labour has continued that direction. Public-sector employment now stands at 6.21 million, central government employment is at a record 4.08 million, and 18% of UK employment is in the public sector.
Meanwhile, the latest PAYE estimate shows 145,000 fewer payrolled employees than a year ago. That August figure is provisional, but the direction is hardly encouraging.
This is what decades of governments with no serious plan for the size of the state looks like.
Keep expanding government. Keep squeezing the economy expected to finance it. Then act surprised when the sums become harder to balance.
Different government. Same underlying problem.