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Rachel Reeves MP: speeches

968 published records · newest first.

Speeches

  • 3 Sept 2024 · Economic Growth · Hansard source
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    I thank the hon. Lady for that question. This Government were pleased to sign off the expansion of London City airport, because we recognise how important aviation is to our economy, getting growth and investment into the UK. Of course, it is right that we always take local views into account and make sure that any investment in, or expansion of, airports comes with the infrastructure that is needed for local communities, but the answer to decisions—whether on road, rail, energy or aviation—cannot always be no. If it is, we will continue with the situation we faced over the past 14 years: low growth, deteriorating living standards and worsening public infrastructure. We cannot continue like that.

  • 3 Sept 2024 · Economic Growth · Hansard source
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    I welcome my hon. Friend to her place; it is already obvious that she will be a strong voice for the people of Monmouthshire. In our party manifesto, we committed to rolling out 350 banking hubs in communities like those she speaks about, which have lost multiple banks in the past few years. The Economic Secretary to the Treasury will happily meet my hon. Friend to work on achieving one such banking hub in her constituency. That is an offer to Members right across the House; so many of our constituencies have lost bank branches in the past few years. For older people, small businesses and families, the lack of access to cash can be devastating, and we are determined to reverse it with the roll-out of the new banking hubs.

  • 3 Sept 2024 · Economic Growth · Hansard source
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    That is the purpose of elections, and at the last election, this Government achieved a sizeable majority for our missions, including growing the economy, improving living standards and making working people better off. We have just got started, and that is what we are absolutely determined to do, in order to deliver on the mandate we got on 4 July.

  • 3 Sept 2024 · Economic Growth · Hansard source
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    I thank the hon. Gentleman for that question, I think. On 14 October, we are hosting an international investment summit, welcoming to London some of the biggest investors in the world. In the two months that I have been in this role, I have met over 300 business leaders, talking to them about the huge opportunities to invest in our great country, including in life sciences, financial services, the creative industries and low-carbon technologies. The opportunities are endless, and this Government are determined to work with business to ensure that we bring good jobs, investment and prosperity right across the United Kingdom.

  • 3 Sept 2024 · Economic Growth · Hansard source
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    Sustained economic growth is the only route to improving the prosperity of our country and the living standards of working people. That is why we have already taken a number of actions to begin delivering on our growth mission —the No. 1 priority of this new Labour Government—which includes a series of planning reforms to get Britain building; the establishment of a national wealth fund to bring in private sector investment; the announcement of a pensions review to unlock growth, boost investment and deliver better returns to pensioners; the launch of Skills England; and the announcement of the forthcoming White Paper on getting Britain working again. This Government are determined to boost growth and improve living standards, and, by doing so, to have the money that we need to fund our vital public services.

  • 29 Jul 2024 · Public Spending: Inheritance · Hansard source
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    We have now been in the Chamber for one hour and 40 minutes, but we have not had a single apology from any Opposition Members. They should have come to the Chamber today and apologised; they have not done so. The country kicked them out of office three and a half weeks ago, and we can tell why.

  • 29 Jul 2024 · Public Spending: Inheritance · Hansard source
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    The OBR has just published a letter, as my hon. Friend said, which states: “We were made aware of the extent of these pressures at a meeting with the Treasury last week”, and goes on to state: “If a significant fraction of these pressures is ultimately accommodated through higher DEL spending in 2024-25, this would constitute one of the largest year-ahead overspends against DEL forecasts outside of the pandemic years.” This is incredibly serious. That is why I came to this House today to set out that £22 billion overspend compared with what the Government set out at the previous Budget. This letter from the chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility can leave no one in this Chamber in any doubt about the seriousness of the situation.

  • 29 Jul 2024 · Public Spending: Inheritance · Hansard source
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    We have had to make difficult decisions today to cancel road and rail infrastructure projects. These are not decisions we wanted to make, but if the money is not there, we cannot go ahead with those projects. It is as simple as that. The money has to be there and the sums always have to add up, because I will not make the mistakes of the previous Government and Liz Truss, crashing the economy and sending interest rates and mortgage rates spiralling for our constituents. That is why I have had to take these actions today to get a grip on public spending and public finances. I make no apology for that, but I recognise the damage it does to so many constituents with projects that they had expected to see happening.

  • 29 Jul 2024 · Public Spending: Inheritance · Hansard source
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    As the hon. Gentleman knows, estimates have to be published to ensure that Government funding continues, so we had to publish those main estimates, but we will be presenting new estimates to the House based on the revelations that we have set out today.

  • 29 Jul 2024 · Public Spending: Inheritance · Hansard source
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    None of the decisions that we have made today was easy. None of them was a decision that I wanted to have to make, but leaving unaddressed a £22 billion in-year hole in our public finances was not an option. We saw what happened when a previous Prime Minister and Chancellor played fast and loose with the public finances. I will not do that, which is why today I have been honest with this House about the scale of the inheritance that we now have to deal with and the necessary decisions, including on winter fuel payment, that I have had to take today.

  • 29 Jul 2024 · Public Spending: Inheritance · Hansard source
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    The pandemic is no excuse for making unfunded spending commitments, which is precisely what the previous Government did. The right hon. Gentleman mentioned the pandemic, during which the Government handed out contracts to friends and donors to their party, putting them in a VIP lane. That is why we are appointing a covid corruption commissioner. We want that money back in our public services, where it belongs.

  • 29 Jul 2024 · Public Spending: Inheritance · Hansard source
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    I share the hon. Gentleman’s frustration, anger and disappointment that the promises made by the previous Government turned out to be built on sand. The money simply was not there. The decisions that we are having to take today are not easy. They are not the decisions that I want to make, but we have to put our public finances on a firmer footing. That is essential. My right hon. Friend the Health Secretary will meet the hon. Gentleman and others affected as soon as possible to talk through the next steps to ensure that all our constituents have the public services, including the hospitals, that they rightly deserve.

  • 29 Jul 2024 · Public Spending: Inheritance · Hansard source
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    I too saw the numbers today that show that Britian is out of the top 10 manufacturing countries, which is shameful given our history at the heart of the industrial revolution. I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for his work, which ensured that Labour went into the election as the most pro-business party. Through the reforms that we have already announced in our first three weeks in government—planning reforms, the creation of a national wealth fund, reform of our pension system and a modern industrial strategy—we will go about making Britain the best place to start and grow a business, and the best place to invest. We look forward to holding our international investment summit in the UK later this year.

  • 29 Jul 2024 · Public Spending: Inheritance · Hansard source
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    The response today from former Conservative Ministers just shows how deluded and out of touch they were. The British people delivered their verdict three weeks ago, and after the evidence they have seen today, they will understand that things are even worse than they had thought.

  • 29 Jul 2024 · Public Spending: Inheritance · Hansard source
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    The hon. Gentleman should blame the previous Government for not funding the commitments that they made. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care will meet all the people affected, including those affected by hospitals with RAAC problems, as soon as possible. As a Leeds MP, I recognise the importance of new hospitals and ensuring that our hospital estate is fit for purpose, but we cannot spend money that we do not have.

  • 29 Jul 2024 · Public Spending: Inheritance · Hansard source
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    It was the previous Government who set the mandate for the pay review bodies. It is extraordinary that they did not include in that remit a measure of affordability, but they did not, which is why the pay review bodies made these recommendations. The previous Education Secretary could have rejected those recommendations, but she let them sit on her desk, because the previous Government were not willing to make tough decisions. We have made those decisions, including making sure that a third of the cost of these pay awards is absorbed, but there is a cost to inaction: last year, there was a £1.7 billion cost to the NHS alone because of industrial action.

  • 29 Jul 2024 · Public Spending: Inheritance · Hansard source
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    I think every single Member of the House will have faced often very difficult constituency casework about young people who are not getting a diagnosis on time and not getting the support they need at school. We will set out all our spending plans and priorities at the spending review later this year.

  • 29 Jul 2024 · Public Spending: Inheritance · Hansard source
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    If our economy had grown at just the average rate for OECD economies over the past 14 years, it would today be worth £140 billion more. That would have been worth £5,000 for every family in Britain and would have meant an additional £58 billion for our public services, without increasing tax by a single penny. That shows how important economic growth is, which is why getting our economy growing is the No. 1 mission of this Government.

  • 29 Jul 2024 · Public Spending: Inheritance · Hansard source
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    I understand the hon. Lady’s frustration and anger on behalf of her constituents that today we had to be honest about the scale of the inheritance we face. There was no money allocated for the A303 by the previous Government, despite their saying that it was going ahead. That is the state of affairs that we inherited. I am sure that my right hon. Friend the Transport Secretary would be happy to meet the hon. Lady and colleagues to discuss the matter.

  • 29 Jul 2024 · Public Spending: Inheritance · Hansard source
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    My right hon. Friend the Health Secretary has agreed to meet all MPs affected and will, of course, also be talking to people who run our health service, to make sure that we can put right the mistakes made by the previous Government.

  • 29 Jul 2024 · Public Spending: Inheritance · Hansard source
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    I thank my hon. Friend for her question. She speaks from her experience as Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, and I agree with her entirely. The charter for budget responsibility will be published. We have already introduced legislation for the new fiscal lock that we set out in our manifesto, so that we can ensure that a Government can never again do what the previous Government did, which was to overspend by £22 billion within one year.

  • 29 Jul 2024 · Public Spending: Inheritance · Hansard source
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    I have to be honest that the decisions I have made today are tough decisions. They are not the decisions that I wanted to make, or that I expected to make. Given the seriousness of the inheritance that I face, they are the right decisions, the responsible decisions, and the fairest decisions that I could make in the circumstances.

  • 29 Jul 2024 · Public Spending: Inheritance · Hansard source
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    I can confirm that we will be arranging multi-year settlements with local authorities, as well as with Departments. It is extremely important that both Departments and authorities can plan for the future knowing what money is available, rather than running down the clock towards the end of the year. I thank my hon. Friend for welcoming the announcement that I made today about working with local government to improve the take-up of pension credit. It is woeful that it is so low. It is vital that everyone receives the money to which they are entitled, especially pensioners, which is why we have taken on those recommendations from elderly people’s charities today to ensure that we work with local government to boost take-up of that benefit.

  • 29 Jul 2024 · Public Spending: Inheritance · Hansard source
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    The cover-up was from those on the Opposition Benches. The sooner we get an apology to the British people, the better.

  • 29 Jul 2024 · Public Spending: Inheritance · Hansard source
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    Yes, page 5 of the “Fixing the foundations” document that we have published today sets out the pressures on public spending. On rail services: “Pressures have emerged on rail finances, primarily due to the weaker-than-expected recovery in passenger demand”, as well as the cost of industrial action, have led “to a pressure of £1.6 billion” in this financial year alone.

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