Starmer’s Empty Promises. Reeves’ Debt Spiral. Labour’s Cabinet in Chaos.
Stat of the Nation weekly roundup — asylum pledges collapse, debt surges, and Cabinet turmoil.
Welcome back to Stat of the Nation. This week the numbers — and the politics — tell a stark story: Starmer’s asylum hotel pledge unravels, Reeves drives Britain deeper into debt, and Labour reshuffles its Cabinet just a year in.
1️⃣ Starmer’s Asylum Hotels Promise Moves Migrants Into Communities
Featured article: Starmer Closing Hotels Won’t Stop the Crisis — It Puts It on Your Street
Starmer promised to shut asylum hotels — yet the Government fought to keep the Bell Hotel in Essex open.
Latest stats: 111,000 asylum applications in the year to June 2025.
32,059 asylum seekers remain in hotels, while 66,234 are now housed in local communities.
Closing hotels doesn’t stop the crisis — it simply shifts it onto your street.
📊 As I posted on X:
“Over 100,000 asylum seekers are in taxpayer-funded accommodation. 32,059 in hotels, 66,234 in houses and flats. Closing hotels = more in communities. Until the pull factors are removed, the problem will only grow.”
2️⃣ Reeves’ Debt Spiral — £2.87 Trillion and Rising
Featured interview: Britain’s £2.87 Trillion Debt Crisis — Markets Don’t Trust Labour
National debt now at £2.87 trillion — nearly £58,000 per adult.
Since Labour took office: £95bn borrowed between August 2024 and March 2025, £55bn above forecast.
£20.7bn borrowed in June alone — the second-highest June on record.
Over £100bn/year in interest payments — more than the schools budget.
30-year gilt yields hit 5.7%, the highest since 1998.
💡 The markets are clear: Labour’s plan lacks credibility, and taxpayers are footing the bill.
3️⃣ Angela Rayner & Labour’s Cabinet Reshuffle — Continuity or Chaos?
This week’s Angela Rayner debate has been framed the wrong way:
“The issue isn’t whether she paid the correct stamp duty — it’s that she needed advice on how much to pay. If you can’t even do that, are you competent enough for government?”
As Housing Minister, Rayner should have had no difficulty grasping the rules on stamp duty — it’s a tax directly tied to the Government’s own housing policy.
If a housing minister cannot understand the basics of a tax her own department oversees, what chance does the rest of the population have?
If this was a deliberate act to avoid paying the correct tax, she was right to go. If it was a genuine mistake, she was still right to go — because someone entrusted with decisions that impact millions cannot afford to make such elementary errors.
At the same time, Starmer has reshuffled his Cabinet just a year in. Ministers shuffled around so soon bring no continuity for families, businesses, or public services.
If Labour’s plan was working, there’d be no need for change — making the reshuffle look less like strategy and more like an admission of failure.
💡 One year in, Labour looks less like a team with a plan and more like a party patching cracks.
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