Rachel Reeves’s claim that Brexit is to blame for the state of the country’s economy “won’t wash” with Britons, Piers Pottinger has claimed.

Speaking to GB News, the political commentator stated that the economy as it stands at the moment is “her fault and her fault alone”.

In remarks during an International Monetary Fund (IMF) committee, she told leading financial figures that the UK’s productivity challenge has worsened since leaving the European Union (EU).

Ms Reeves said: “The UK’s productivity challenge has been compounded by the way in which the UK left the European Union.”

Asked by host Patrick Christys if the state of the economy is “her fault”, Mr Pottinger fumed: “Of course it is.

“We’ve got this Office of Budget Responsibility, the most ill-named office I’ve ever heard of, because they keep getting it wrong and they’re always downgrading their forecasts.

“And it makes life harder for the Chancellor because she doesn’t run the finances. The OBR does, which I think is fundamentally wrong.”

Criticising Ms Reeves further, he added: “She’s now in Saudi Arabia, a country she criticised the Conservatives for, going to a ‘murderous regime’.

“She’s there now begging for money contracts to try and find some sort of money, some sort of glimmer of hope.

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Mervyn King, a really effective governor of the Bank of England, summed up Rachel Reeves’s performance brilliantly as someone with no strategy, kneejerk reacting, trying attacks here and there.”

Hitting out at the Chancellor for laying the blame on Brexit, Mr Pottinger told GB News: “They’re just trying to plug holes that she has created, and you can see her building up to blaming the previous Government, which they always do, and now Brexit.

“She’s going to blame it all on Brexit. Quite frankly this won’t wash with the British people. This economy as it stands at the moment is her fault, this Labour Government’s fault and theirs alone.”

Highlighting the key “problem” Ms Reeves is facing, GB News Senior Political Commentator Nigel Nelson told Mr Pottinger: “The problem is promising not to raise the big taxes, income tax, VAT and employee national insurance.

“And now, for the first time, there’s a lot of talk about whether or not she goes for bust and then raises income tax 1p or 2p.”

Interjecting Nigel, Mr Pottinger hit back: “But are you surprised they’re not going to keep their promises? They don’t keep any of them!”

Nigel responded: “The trouble is, that’s the reaction they get. The immediate reaction is ‘you’ve broken a manifesto promise’. The economy has not grown in the way that we thought it was going to.”

Mr Pottinger concluded: “It would have had no chance of growing with this ridiculous, previous Budget. Said she wouldn’t be back for more taxes and now she’s back for more taxes.”