Rachel Reeves MP: speeches

Speeches

• 21 May 2026 · Middle East: Economic Response · Hansard source

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  When I became Chancellor, I extended the energy profits levy on gas and oil to 78%. We will be able to bring in money as a result of that. We have also increased the electricity generator levy by 10 percentage points to help to decouple gas and electricity prices. Because of the measures I took in my Budget last year, I was able to take £150 off people’s energy bills. I recognise the impact of the cost of living on families, pensioners and businesses, which is why I have introduced a further range of measures today, particularly targeting and helping families, energy-intensive industries, and those who drive a lot for work.

• 21 May 2026 · Middle East: Economic Response · Hansard source

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  In the Budget last year, I reduced energy bills by £150, and just a few weeks ago, I put in additional money to help people with the cost of heating oil. The issue around standing charges and those allocations is for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, but I will pass on the right hon. Lady’s concerns to the relevant Ministers.

• 21 May 2026 · Middle East: Economic Response · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for her question and for always standing up for the people of Stafford, whether by supporting bringing a market back to the town or supporting the brickmaking sector. This Government are investing £120 billion more in capital spending during this Parliament, compared with the plans that I inherited from the previous Government. I am determined that that money is spent here in Britain—whether on defence, energy, transport or building schools and hospitals—creating good jobs, paying decent wages, supporting British industry and supporting British workers.

• 21 May 2026 · Middle East: Economic Response · Hansard source

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  We are helping to keep prices down in the supermarkets, and to reduce the cost of lunch at a café or restaurant when families have a day out. Having met my hon. Friend’s kids out on the campaign trail in Aldershot, I think that a couple of days out not delivering leaflets would be very much in order.

• 21 May 2026 · Middle East: Economic Response · Hansard source

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  The measures that I have announced today will help people on the Isle of Wight. We have frozen fuel duty for the third time—in comparison, the plans that we inherited from the previous Government would have seen fuel duty go up—we are helping farmers with the cost of red diesel, we are helping the rail freight sector and we are supporting HGV drivers. Many people go to the Isle of Wight on their summer holidays and enjoy wonderful days out, and the cost of that will also be reduced, helping that sector in the Isle of Wight this summer.

• 21 May 2026 · Middle East: Economic Response · Hansard source

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  It is important that we help our constituents with the cost of living. The tariff reductions that I have announced today will save the British shopper £700 million. That is a significant reduction in the cost of the weekly shop for families across our country. We have chosen the tariff lines carefully. The full details will be published, and we will consult over the next week or two to ensure that we get them exactly right, but we have worked hard to make sure that the reductions do not affect British farmers. That is why we are also helping British farmers with the changes we have made on red diesel.

• 21 May 2026 · Middle East: Economic Response · Hansard source

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  Let me take the issues that the shadow Chancellor has raised. On fuel duty, when I became Chancellor of the Exchequer, the freeze in fuel duty was due to expire, under the plan set out in the Conservatives’ final Budget, within a matter of months. I have frozen fuel duty twice already and I have frozen it again today; indeed, I have frozen it with more than three months to go before the increase was due to happen, giving people plenty of time. I have always said, since the middle east conflict began, that I would keep an eye on what was happening to oil and gas prices and set out plans ahead of the change due to come into effect in September. That is exactly what I have done. I have also gone further in three specific areas, with additional support for hauliers, additional support for red diesel—particularly helping the rail freight industry and farmers—and the higher mileage rates. The shadow chancellor says he welcomes the changes on mileage rates. It is the first time they have been increased since 2011, so if he welcomes them so much, why did the Conservatives not increase them when they had 14 years in government? On the Iran conflict, let us remember that this is a war that the UK did not start and this Government chose not to join, whereas the Conservatives and Reform were cheering on the conflict every step of the way. The impact on the UK and global economies would be much more severe if we had heeded the pleas of Reform and the Conservatives to join that conflict. The shadow Chancellor talks about inflation and growth. Yesterday, the numbers showed that inflation had fallen; we are the only country in the G7 where inflation fell last month. The IMF has revised up our growth forecast and we had the fastest growth of the G7 in the first quarter of this year. The shadow Chancellor asks whether that will be paid for with new borrowing. No, it will not. If he had been listening, he would have heard the changes we are making around the foreign branch exemption. That will raise hundreds of millions of pounds a year, which is why we are able to afford the package that we have announced today. The shadow Chancellor mentioned high streets. Because of the Pride in Place money that I announced at the Budget, the banking hubs and the changes that we made to business rates, which have seen those rates for retail and hospitality come down significantly compared with the plans we inherited from the Conservative Government, we can reinvigorate our high streets. The shadow Chancellor mentioned borrowing. Borrowing has fallen below 5% for the first time since 2019 because of the actions that I have taken as Chancellor. Borrowing is expected to fall in every year of this Parliament—very different from what happened under the Conservatives. Employment and activity remain in the top half of the OECD and the G7. The biggest benefits boom came under the last Conservative Government, when the shadow Chancellor was the Work and Pensions Secretary. Oil and gas will play an important role in our economy for many years to come, but we also need to invest in renewable energy, which is why we announced yesterday restrictions in the number of judicial reviews, which are holding up investment in clean energy. It is a shame that the Conservatives voted against our Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 and it is a shame that the Liberal Democrats abstained on it. We are determined to get Britain building, including building the energy infrastructure we need to get bills down. Just a couple of weeks ago, I announced changes around tie-backs to make it easier for oil and gas companies to exploit their reserves of oil and gas in the North sea. Jackdaw and Rosebank would have gone ahead if it had not been for the last Government messing up the way they legislated. We will shortly announce the decisions, which the Secretary of State for Energy and Net Zero will make. I am very clear that oil and gas will play an important role in the UK for many years to come, adding to our energy security alongside investment in nuclear, small modular reactors, floating offshore wind and onshore wind and solar, opposed by the Conservative party.

• 21 May 2026 · Middle East: Economic Response · Hansard source

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  I thank the right hon. Gentleman for that question. I urge him and businesses and farmers in his constituency to look at the list of products and feed into the consultation over the next week or so. We are keen to bring the tariff reductions into effect to reduce prices in shops for all our constituents, but we want to do so in a way that is respectful of British farming. That is why we have chosen the tariff lines that we have. As he recognises, we are doing more to support farmers with the reduction in duty on red diesel. The best way, though, that we can help all our constituents, the farming sector and others is to bring the conflict to an end and reopen the strait of Hormuz. That is why the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary are working intensively with international partners to do just that, while at the same time we are working to diversify our supply of oil and gas so that fertiliser, to which the right hon. Gentleman rightly refers, is still available for our farmers.

• 21 May 2026 · Middle East: Economic Response · Hansard source

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  I would encourage bus companies to use this as an opportunity to increase the services they offer this summer as they cater for more young people on their buses. I am sure that many hon. and right hon. Members will have enjoyed days out at the aquarium in Scarborough and dinner at the Magpie in Whitby, which serves very good fish and chips.

• 21 May 2026 · Middle East: Economic Response · Hansard source

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  Businesses in Hartlepool and across Teesside will be among the biggest beneficiaries of these changes around chemicals. The Minister for industry, my hon. Friend the Member for Stockton North (Chris McDonald), is now in his place, and I pay tribute to him again for his help in setting out this package of measures. The Department for Business and Trade will shortly set out the details of the chemicals scheme, but I can assure my hon. Friend the Member for Hartlepool (Mr Brash) that it includes help with capital and day-to-day costs, with the aim of making the sector more sustainable and less energy intensive in the future. That will make it increasingly competitive. We recognise the chemical sector’s important role in the UK, and we are determined to ensure a bright future for it.

• 21 May 2026 · Middle East: Economic Response · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Lady for those questions. I am not sure whether she welcomes the changes around the foreign branch exemption, which is what will pay for the policies announced today by ensuring that companies pay their fair share of tax in the UK. Unless we can say where the money will come from, all that results is higher inflation and interest rates in the future. That is why I have always been clear that everything I will announce will be fully costed and fully funded. On food, the hon. Lady cannot both say that she welcomes help with the cost of living, and then be a bit uncertain about tariff reductions. We have focused the tariff reductions on food products and agrifoods that we do not produce in significant quantities in the UK. We work very closely with the Department for Business and Trade in identifying those sectors. On indoor and outdoor summer activities, I have had enough family holidays in the UK to know that there are plenty of days when it rains. I am sure that the leader of the Liberal Democrats, the right hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Ed Davey), will be visiting a soft play centre soon.

• 21 May 2026 · Middle East: Economic Response · Hansard source

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  Businesses in the chemicals sector in Middlesbrough will benefit from these changes. In today’s package, a lot of the focus was on food costs, be it the cost of kids’ meals in restaurants and cafés or the reduction in tariffs, and on support for transport, whether people are travelling by car or by bus. We recognise that increases in essential costs are the ones that families fear most. We will of course monitor the impact of these measures. We expect the range of measures that I have set out today to have a cost to the Exchequer, and that is why I have also set out the foreign branch exemption changes, to ensure that all businesses pay their fair share of tax. On supermarkets, which my hon. Friend mentioned, the Co-op announced last November, on the back of my Budget, that it was cutting the cost of 1,000 products because of the beneficial impact of the changes to business rates. Last week, the Co-op froze the price of more than 40 essential products, and it has committed to working to keep them down. I welcome those measures by the Co-op. I hope that other supermarkets heed the calls of their customers to keep prices down; and I hope that they take advantage of what I have set out today to reduce their costs, and pass those savings directly on to consumers.

• 21 May 2026 · Middle East: Economic Response · Hansard source

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  I will take absolutely no lessons from the man who was part of a party that took our economy to its knees—inflation at 11%, working people worse off at the end of the last Parliament than they were at the beginning, and the worst Parliament ever for living standards—or from a party that has opposed all our reforms to make it easier to get things built in Britain, to increase the wages of working people with the national living wage and the national minimum wage, and to increase the rights of working people, including through statutory sick pay from day one and by ending abusive zero-hours contracts. If we want a lesson on economics, I certainly will not be taking it from the Reform party.

• 21 May 2026 · Middle East: Economic Response · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for that question. I am pleased that people in Rugeley and people working for Armitage Shanks will also benefit from this investment. The £120 million to support our ceramics sector is a clear indication of this Government’s intention to back British jobs and British industry.

• 21 May 2026 · Middle East: Economic Response · Hansard source

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  Absolutely. The freeze in fuel duty will continue until the end of this year and we will keep it under review, depending on what happens in the middle east. It is very important that the tariff reductions and the HGV duty changes are passed on to customers. I am slightly worried that my statement has unleashed a competition between hon. Members about whose constituency has the best summer attractions, whether it is soft play, theme parks, zoos or ice skating. I am being lobbied by my right hon. Friend the Member for Redcar (Anna Turley) about lemon tops in her constituency. I look forward to this continuing ahead of the introduction of VAT reductions on 25 June.

• 21 May 2026 · Middle East: Economic Response · Hansard source

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  I am slightly worried that someone will make a point of order about the age at which people are allowed to enjoy the Northwich piña colada festival. Yes, we will be consulting on chemicals and ceramics to ensure that we give businesses the right support, but we do not want a long consultation to get in the way of actually getting the support to those businesses. My hon. Friend made an important point about our trading relationship with our nearest neighbours and trading partners. We are proud to be a Government who have done trade deals with the Republic of Korea, the United States, India and, yesterday, the Gulf countries. However, the biggest prize is a trade deal and improved trading relations with our nearest neighbours and trading partners in the EU, and I hope that we will make progress on that in the next few months.

• 21 May 2026 · Middle East: Economic Response · Hansard source

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  A whole range of products are included in the tariff reductions, including imports of tropical fruits, bananas, olive oil and much more, but I expect that hon. and right hon. Members would be forgiven for wanting to have a chocolate biscuit after a day of work in this place.

• 21 May 2026 · Middle East: Economic Response · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for the work she does on behalf of all her constituents, particularly those impacted by what is happening at Denby. It was my privilege to come to Amber Valley with her last year to meet businesses across her constituency. We are backing UK ceramics. We want to find a future for Denby, and we will continue to work with my hon. Friend to achieve just that.

• 21 May 2026 · Middle East: Economic Response · Hansard source

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  The best way to reduce cost pressures on families and businesses is to get the strait of Hormuz reopened and those vessels carrying oil and gas flowing again, but of course in the meantime I will keep under review the support necessary to support businesses and families in Banbury and across the country.

• 21 May 2026 · Middle East: Economic Response · Hansard source

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  We all listened to my hon. Friend’s response to the King’s Speech last week, when we heard about the great restaurants in Bradford. I am pleased to say that VAT on children’s meals in those restaurants will fall from 20% to 5%, so all hon. Members who are looking forward to a curry in Bradford can enjoy one at Mumtaz, Aagrah and all the other great restaurants in her city.

• 21 May 2026 · Middle East: Economic Response · Hansard source

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  I hope that families in Bracknell, whether they are enjoying a day out in Bracknell Forest or going on a summer holiday to one of the great seaside towns across our United Kingdom, will benefit from these changes. They will make lunch or dinner out as a family, and entertainment, a little bit cheaper. If parents or carers are on universal credit, when their kids go back to school in September—whether they are in nursery, primary, secondary or further education—they will benefit from free school meals.

• 21 May 2026 · Middle East: Economic Response · Hansard source

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  Thank you very much, Madam Deputy Speaker. With permission, I will make a statement on the Government’s economic response to the war in Iran and the action that we are taking to support families and businesses with rising costs. The Government have the right economic plan. I said I would grow the economy, and last week the Office for National Statistics confirmed that Britain’s economy was the fastest-growing in the G7 for the first quarter of this year. We beat the Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecast in the spring, with economic growth at 0.6% in the three months to March. And because of the resilience of our economy, this week the International Monetary Fund upgraded Britain’s forecast for this year. I said I would cut borrowing. Borrowing last year was £20 billion lower than the previous year, and the latest forecasts show it falling in every year of this Parliament. The IMF has backed our economic plan, saying that the Government’s fiscal framework strikes “a good balance between deficit reduction and growth-friendly spending”. I said I would cut the cost of living. Since the election, interest rates have been cut six times; real wages have continued to rise in every single month since I became Chancellor; and yesterday the ONS confirmed that inflation fell faster than expected in April, making the UK the only G7 economy where inflation fell last month. We have the right economic plan, but the conflict in the middle east poses a significant challenge to the world’s economy, including our own. I have not shied away from my criticism of the war; I believe it to have been a mistake. Nor have I ignored the costs that it will bring to bear on the British people. I have been clear-eyed about my duty to do what I can to support families and businesses; to be responsive to a changing world, and responsible in the national interest. Next week, Ofgem will confirm the level of the energy price cap that will apply from July. I know that any increase will be felt by families. Because of the decision I made in last year’s Budget to cut £150 from energy bills, we have lessened the impact of rising prices, and current external forecasts suggest that the cap from July will be at a similar level to the cap in April last year. We stand ready to act if market conditions worsen significantly later this year, and I have been leading cross-Government contingency work on the design of potential future targeted and temporary support. For businesses, any support will also need to be carefully targeted at the firms most exposed to the crisis, but although many firms have been insulated from recent price rises through fixed-price contracts, there are sectors that face particular structural issues related to energy costs. That is why we have already increased support for our most energy-intensive industries through the British industry competitiveness scheme, which we have brought forward. It is also why we have built resilience in our critical infrastructure and industrial strategy sectors, where supply chains are critical for growth and security. Following representations from my right hon. Friend the Member for Redcar (Anna Turley) and my hon. Friends the Members for Mid Cheshire (Andrew Cooper) and for Bathgate and Linlithgow (Kirsteen Sullivan), and building on the good work of the Minister for Industry, my hon. Friend the Member for Stockton North (Chris McDonald), I am today establishing a £350 million critical chemicals resilience fund to support strategically important producers. Having listened to hon. Friends, including my hon. Friends the Members for Stoke-on-Trent Central (Gareth Snell), for Stoke-on-Trent North (David Williams), for Stoke-on-Trent South (Dr Gardner) and for Amber Valley (Linsey Farnsworth), as well as workers represented by the GMB union, I am today announcing a new £120 million fund to help our historic ceramics sector, helping it to increase efficiency and drive down energy costs. We will always stand up for British industry and British jobs. This week, the Government have also set out additional, targeted support for those businesses most exposed to rising fuel costs. We are granting hauliers a 12-month road tax holiday for heavy goods vehicles, saving the typical heavy lorry up to £912. To support farmers and the rail freight industry, I have decided to cut duty on red diesel by over a third until the end of this year, and having heard from my hon. Friend the Member for Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton (Jim McMahon) and the trade union Unison, I can today announce a 10p per mile increase in tax-free mileage rates, backdated to April 2026. This will benefit those who need to drive for work, from care workers to plumbers. When a country faces challenges because of higher oil and gas prices, we must ensure that those who benefit from increased prices and volatility pay their fair share. In my first Budget, I extended and increased the energy profits levy. Last year, I announced a new permanent windfall tax regime on oil and gas prices. Last month, I increased the electricity generator levy, alongside further action to weaken the link between high gas prices and electricity prices. Today, I am bringing forward specific changes to the taxation of foreign branch profits, changing how companies are taxed in relation to their overseas activities. Currently, some oil and gas groups that operate overseas through foreign branches have structured their tax affairs in a way that ensures they pay little or no corporation tax on their UK energy trading profits. Today, we are putting an end to that practice. We expect these reforms to raise hundreds of millions of pounds a year and fund the package of measures set out today, with costings certified by the OBR forecast in the usual way. I know the pressure that family finances are under, which is why I have already taken action to provide help. I have increased the national living wage and the national minimum wage to their highest rates ever, frozen prescription charges for two years in a row, and frozen rail fares for the first time in 30 years. I have also taken £150 off energy bills, which contributed to last month’s fall in inflation. However, I want to go further, and today I am taking further action to ease the burden on family finances. First, on fuel duty, I have already extended the 5p cut twice since the election. I can confirm today that there will be no rise in fuel duty this year, recognising the pressure that the war has put on fuel prices. Secondly, I know that the cost of the weekly shop is often one of the biggest worries for families, so last month I met supermarkets to urge them to do all they can to keep prices low. Today I am taking action by suspending tariffs on over 100 different foods sold in supermarkets. I am clear that I expect supermarkets to pass those savings on in full to their customers. Thirdly, I will not tolerate any company exploiting the current situation to make excess profits at consumers’ expense. As such, I am bringing forward tough new powers so that the Competition and Markets Authority and other regulators can take action when firms break the rules. Fourthly, for many families, driving is not always an option. Buses are the most popular form of public transport in Britain, with over 4 billion journeys made last year. I have already extended the £3 bus fare cap to March 2027, and today I can confirm that bus travel across England will be free for children aged between five and 15 throughout August. Finally, I recognise that what matters for families is not just getting by, but being able to enjoy time together without worrying about the next bill. That is why I am launching the great British summer savings scheme, to help families and to support our hospitality sector. I can today announce a temporary cut in the rate of VAT on summer attractions from 20% to 5% over the summer holidays. This will apply to ticket prices for both adults and children, covering attractions such as fairs, theme parks, zoos and museums. It will include children’s tickets for cinemas, concerts, soft play and the theatre, and it will also cut the cost of children’s meals in restaurants and cafés from 20% VAT to 5%. These changes will apply across the UK from the start of the Scottish school holidays on 25 June and will run until the end of the school holidays in England, Wales and Northern Ireland on 1 September. This Government have the right economic plan. We promised to grow the economy, and we have. We promised to cut inflation, and we have. We promised to cut the cost of living, and we are—promises made by a Labour Government, promises delivered by a Labour Government. I commend this statement to the House.

• 21 May 2026 · Middle East: Economic Response · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Lady for that question and for her welcome of the changes to mileage rates and the measures on profit shifting. Obviously not all parties in the House welcome them, so I appreciate the fact that hers does, but we are helping working people. The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 is the biggest upgrade in the rights of renters in a generation; the Employment Rights Act 2025 is the biggest upgrade in the rights of working people for a generation. We have taken the national living wage and the national minimum wage to their highest ever levels. For working families, the 30 hours of childcare, free breakfast clubs, the extension of free school meals and getting rid of the two-child limit are all putting money in the pockets of working people. The measures that I have set out in my statement today on bus fares, fuel duties, VAT and hospitality, and more, will give further help, both in Herefordshire and around the country.

• 21 May 2026 · Middle East: Economic Response · Hansard source

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  Spoken like a proper former teacher! Expanding their cultural capital is what my children want to do every weekend. Whether it is expanding cultural capital, or having fun at a theme park in Blackpool or at Alton Towers, I want children and families to be able to enjoy this summer. As a former teacher, my hon. Friend will know that although the summer holidays are a welcome relief for teachers and children, it can often be a time of worry for parents. I hope that today’s changes will make the summer holidays a bit easier for all families.

• 21 May 2026 · Middle East: Economic Response · Hansard source

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  I have happy memories of having fish and chips with my hon. Friend in her constituency several years ago. I can confirm that the VAT for children’s meals, be they in a pub, hotel, restaurant or café, will be cut from 20% to 5% between 25 June and 1 September. We will monitor the impact of that on tax revenues, and the number of people going out for dinner. We envisage that this measure will have a cost to the taxpayer, which is why we are funding it by ending the tax loophole whereby some companies were using losses overseas to offset their corporation tax here in Britain.