Rachel Reeves MP: speeches

Speeches

• 23 Jun 2026 · Economic Strength · Hansard source

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  I am incredibly proud of my record as Chancellor of the Exchequer: the fastest growing country in the G7 within the EU, wages rising faster than inflation every single month since I became Chancellor, record investment coming into the United Kingdom, rolling out free breakfast clubs and free school meals, 500,000 children lifted out of poverty, creating the National Wealth Fund and leveraging in private sector investment. Those things are only possible because of the decisions I have made as Chancellor. As a result, for the first time since 2019, Government borrowing was less than 5% of GDP—a far change from the mess I inherited from the Conservatives.

• 23 Jun 2026 · Cost of Living: Falkirk · Hansard source

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  We timed the great British summer savings so that they start on the first day of the Scottish school holidays and continues to 1 September, when children in England, Wales and Northern Ireland return to school. We hope that the scheme has a big impact on families around the country, alongside the free bus travel in England in August. We did not start the war in the middle east, we did not join it, and I have been clear about my views on it, but the war is clearly having consequences here at home. We will continue to monitor the situation and take every action necessary to support families.

• 23 Jun 2026 · Cost of Living: Falkirk · Hansard source

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  The Government remain dedicated to raising living standards for people in Falkirk and across the UK by driving economic growth and bearing down on inflation, which I know continues to squeeze household budgets. Measures announced in my Budget last year are already taking effect: raising the national living wage and the national minimum wage; maintaining the triple lock on pensions; and extending free school meals to more families. Our great British summer savings package builds on that, reducing VAT on a whole range of summer attractions, including, I believe, Airthrill in my hon. Friend’s constituency.

• 23 Jun 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I have not only visited my hon. Friend’s constituency, but I went to school there and I am well aware of many of the pubs in Beckenham and Penge. This summer, from this Thursday, the great British summer savings programme will benefit businesses in Beckenham and Penge and around the country. VAT rates on children’s food in restaurants, pubs, cafés and bars will be cut, and children’s entertainment venues in Beckenham and Penge and around the country will also see cuts in VAT.

• 23 Jun 2026 · Cost of Living: Wythenshawe and Sale East · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for bringing the story of Darren and Nicole to this House. I hope that they and their children will benefit from the change I made to the two-child limit for universal credit, as well as from the rolling out of free breakfast clubs to all primary schools, and the introduction of free school meals for all children whose parents are on universal credit, which will start in September and be available at primary, secondary, nursery and further education levels. As the Trussell Trust has said, the decisions I made in my Budget mean that the cruel two-child limit, which drove countless families into hardship and forced them to turn to food banks to survive, will end.

• 23 Jun 2026 · Defence Investment Plan · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman is literally sitting two places away from the right hon. Member for Central Devon (Sir Mel Stride)—the former welfare Secretary who presided over a record increase in welfare spending. We have commissioned Alan Milburn to do a review—the first part of which was published recently—to address the problem that we inherited of young people not in employment, education or training and get young people back into work. I am proud to be the Chancellor who has overseen the biggest uplift in defence spending since the end of the cold war. We funded that through our difficult decision to reduce overseas development assistance, but that was the right choice. When we set out the defence investment plan ahead of the Ankara NATO summit, the whole House will see the further changes we are making in order to better support defence in an increasingly unstable world.

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

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  I very much hope that families and businesses in Leyton and Wanstead can benefit from the changes that I have set out today. I know that the cost of renting is very high, especially in London, and the Renters’ Rights Act should give greater certainty and stability to renters and limit rent increases. In addition, families in Leyton and Wanstead will benefit from the offer of 30 hours of free childcare, the abolition of the two-child limit on universal credit and the roll-out of free breakfast clubs to primary schools. From September, straight after the summer holidays, all children whose parents or carers are on universal credit will benefit from free school meals.

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

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  I can confirm to my hon. Friend that the London Eye will be included. Apparently it is called an “observation attraction”—the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury and I made sure that such attractions are part of the package of measures. I totally agree with what she says about young children of primary school age having a deep understanding of the cost of living pressures faced by their families and carers at the moment. That is why it is so important that today’s measures particularly address the cost of the summer holidays for parents. I know that parents, whether in Vauxhall or in my own constituency of Leeds West and Pudsey, are not always as excited about the summer holidays as their children are because they are worried about the costs. I hope that the measures that I have announced today on the cost of children’s meals in restaurants and cafés, and to reduce the cost of days out, will go some way towards helping families to have a better summer.

• 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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  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 am sure that my hon. Friend’s constituents in Edinburgh North and Leith will benefit from being able to enjoy attractions in the Scottish school holidays. People from the other nations and regions of the UK, or from further afield, will also be able to enjoy the attractions of Edinburgh this summer. On the specific issue of delinking gas and electricity prices, this is both a short-term and long-term measure. In the short term, we have increased the electricity generator levy by 10 percentage points to bring in more money this year. We are renegotiating contracts to move electricity prices on to contracts for difference in order to have greater certainty about electricity prices, so that the gas price does not set the electricity price so frequently, giving greater stability of energy prices to businesses and families.

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

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  We have already increased the number of apprenticeships, and changes to the growth and skills levy mean that young people do not always have to have maths and English at grades A to C to get on to an apprenticeship programme. We have also introduced shorter apprenticeships to help young people to get the skills they need. On private rent, the right hon. Gentleman might have seen the changes that we made through the Renters’ Rights Act 2026, which gives renters the greatest rights they have had in a generation, including the right to challenge a rent increase and to have only one rent increase a year. If someone challenges their rent increase and takes their case to a tribunal, they will not have the rent increase during the course of the tribunal, helping to limit rent rises for hard-working families.

• 28 Apr 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Just a couple of weeks ago, I hosted an event in Downing Street where I met people who are benefiting from the change in the two-child limit and people who had campaigned for that change. Mums told me that they were going to use the money to pay for their kids to go to after-school clubs with their friends, swimming lessons that they could not afford before, or a new school coat rather than a second-hand one. That is the difference that this money is making to families up and down the country. I am proud to be the Chancellor who has scrapped the two-child limit.

• 28 Apr 2026 · Conflict in the Middle East: Cost of Living · Hansard source

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  I welcome the hon. Lady’s question. Like her, I regularly see pupils and local teachers in my constituency. As she knows, from this month we have got rid of the two-child limit in universal credit, which is lifting 450,000 children out of poverty. We are also expanding free childcare for children aged between nine months and five years, helping parents in work with the costs of balancing family life with work life. In addition, we have taken £117 off energy bills, we are freezing rail fares and prescription charges, and we are helping people—particularly those in rural areas—with the cost of heating oil.

• 28 Apr 2026 · Child Poverty Taskforce · Hansard source

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  The fact that some 10,000 children in one constituency have been lifted out of poverty, by just one of the policy changes we have made to reduce child poverty, shows the difference that this Labour Government are making. Combined with the breakfast clubs, the free school meals, the extension of childcare, the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 and the building of new homes, the Government are set to deliver the biggest ever reduction in child poverty in one Parliament.

• 28 Apr 2026 · Child Poverty Taskforce · Hansard source

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  The Government are taking action to tackle child poverty, by removing the two-child limit and by expanding free school meals and breakfast clubs, including the seven breakfast clubs already rolled out in the Dewsbury and Batley constituency. As a result, 550,000 children will be lifted out of poverty in this Parliament: the biggest reduction in child poverty in any Parliament ever.

• 3 Mar 2026 · Spring Forecast · Hansard source

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  I believe in fair taxes, and I believe the wealthy should pay their fair share, but I believe in bringing that about in a credible way that actually delivers for our constituents. That is why, in my two Budgets, I have ended the non-dom loophole, charged VAT and business rates on private school fees, raised capital gains tax and introduced a high-value property tax, which I believe the Green party opposes in London. The hon. Member failed to mention her party’s policy on defence and defence spending. This is important, especially now. We know that the Green party wants to leave NATO. She does not want to say it, but it is her party’s policy.

• 3 Mar 2026 · Spring Forecast · Hansard source

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  The right hon. Gentleman mentions the work that the previous Government did on covid, and of course it was right to support people with furlough and bounce back loans, but it was not right to hand money to friends and donors to the Conservatives through covid contracts. We are getting the money back that they wasted. I say again that it is a bit rich of the Conservatives—especially as the shadow Chancellor was previously the Work and Pensions Secretary—to talk about welfare spending when they presided over a 113,000 increase in young people not in education, employment or training. We have already made reforms to universal credit to narrow the gap between the health element and the standard element. That will ensure that more people are out looking for work, and employment has increased since the start of last year.

• 3 Mar 2026 · Spring Forecast · Hansard source

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  This Government are investing in young people, by ending the two-child limit, investing in further education—which was neglected by the last Government—and increasing the number of young people who can go on to study or take apprenticeships, and, indeed, through the youth guarantee, which is worth more than £800 million. As I said in my statement, though, we want to do more to tackle the legacy that we inherited from the Conservative Government to ensure that more young people have the opportunity of work, training or a college place.

• 3 Mar 2026 · Spring Forecast · Hansard source

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  To help the generation that my hon. Friend speaks about, we have introduced the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, and we are also bringing down interest rates and inflation. That makes it easier to get on the housing ladder but also, crucially, reduces the interest rates on both plan 2 student loans and other students loans, the threshold for which was frozen for 10 years under the previous Government.

• 3 Mar 2026 · Spring Forecast · Hansard source

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  A plan that is even more important in a world that has become yet more uncertain in the last few days. With unfolding conflict in Iran and the middle east, it is incumbent on me and on this Government to chart a course through that uncertainty, to secure our economy against shocks and to protect families from the turbulence we see beyond our borders. I want to express my gratitude to members of our armed forces as they serve across the globe to protect our country. I want to reassure this House that I am in regular contact with the Governor of the Bank of England, with my international counterparts and with key affected industries, including our maritime sector. Tomorrow I will meet our North sea industry leaders to discuss the implications they face and work with them to manage this uncertain period. In an increasingly dangerous world, I am proud to be the Chancellor that is delivering the biggest uplift in defence spending since the cold war, with £650 million committed in January to upgrade our Typhoon fighter jets, a new Royal Navy frigate launched from Rosyth last week and, just yesterday, our £1 billion helicopter deal with Leonardo. I am in no doubt about Britain’s ability to navigate the challenges we face. The plan that I have been driving forward since the election is the right one: stability in our public finances, investment in our infrastructure, including our armed forces, and reform to Britain’s economy. It is a plan to reshape our economy and break with the failed ideas of the past: building growth on not just the contribution of a few people in a few places, but in every part of Britain, with a state that does not stand back but steps up; strengthening our trading relationships and our alliances; creating capacity in our economy through affordable housing, better transport and free childcare; and being an active and strategic state, building growth and economic security in an uncertain world. Stability is the single most important precondition for economic growth. That is why we have committed to a single major fiscal event a year, limiting major policy changes to the Budget, and giving businesses and households the certainty they need. Today the new forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility show that our plan is the right one: inflation is down; borrowing is down; living standards are up; and the economy is growing. This Government have restored economic stability. The previous Government allowed inflation to skyrocket to over 11%, stoked interest rates to 15-year highs and delivered the first Parliament on record where people were poorer at the end than at the start. That is the Conservatives’ record, and I recognise the impact it had on families. We promised change at the election, and I understand the responsibility on me to deliver that change. I know that the question that people will ask themselves at the next election is, “Are me and my family better off?” I am determined that the answer will be yes. The change we promised has already started: there have been six cuts in interest rates since the general election—the fastest pace of reduction in 17 years—and inflation has fallen. For businesses, that means lower capital costs and greater certainty, and for families, it means more money in their pockets to spend in local shops and on the high street. Those interest rate cuts will save households over £1,300 a year on a typical new fixed-rate mortgage. Real wages have risen by more in the first 18 months of this Labour Government than in the first 10 years of the Tory Government. At the Budget, I went further to deliver the change that people rightly demand. I extended the 5p cut in fuel duty for a further five months, froze prescription charges for the second year in a row and froze rail fares for the first time in 30 years, and I am taking £150 off energy bills from next month. In February, the Bank of England confirmed that inflation will fall faster because of the action I took at the Budget, and today the Office for Budget Responsibility expects inflation to come down even faster than it forecast in the autumn. In the current global context, with the risk that rising energy prices will put upward pressure on inflation, the action that I have taken is even more crucial. Keeping inflation low and stable is the best way to support family incomes and reduce pressures on the cost of living. But that is not all we have done: this Labour Government have funded 30 hours of free childcare for working families; we are rolling out free breakfast clubs at primary schools; and we are set to achieve the biggest reduction in child poverty over a Parliament since records began by reversing the shameful two-child limit imposed by the Conservatives. That is the moral choice, for the children who will no longer go to school hungry and for the women who will no longer suffer the grotesque indignity of the rape clause. Scrapping the two-child limit is an enduring investment in our children and in our future to realise the potential of young people that would otherwise be wasted. The Tories have said that they would reinstate that destructive policy, and now Reform is saying exactly the same thing—two parties united in their intention to plunge nearly half a million children back into poverty at a single stroke. If you import failed Tory politicians, you get failed Tory policies too. Labour—and only Labour—has the right economic plan for our country. [Hon. Members: “More!”] Last year, we demonstrated the resilience of Britain’s economy in the face of global headwinds with the fastest growth of any G7 country in Europe. Today the Office for Budget Responsibility has updated its growth forecasts, including reflecting lower net migration. Average growth across the forecast period is largely unchanged, while the OBR has adjusted the profile of GDP so that it grows slightly slower in 2026— [ Interruption. ] And then faster in both 2027 and 2028. GDP is forecast to grow by 1.1% in 2026, 1.6% in both 2027 and 2028 and 1.5% in both 2029 and 2030. I have always said that growth is for a purpose—to make working people better off. I can confirm that GDP per person is set to grow more than was expected in the autumn, with growth of 5.6% over the course of this Parliament. That compares with a fall in GDP per capita in the last Parliament. By the next election, after accounting for inflation, people are forecast to be £1,000 a year better off. [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear.”] I did not hear the Opposition that time! We promised change, and we are delivering that change. The economy is growing, living standards are rising and inflation has fallen, but I am not satisfied with those forecasts. I know that the economy is not yet working for everyone and that the deep economic scars left by the Conservative party and their mates in Reform are still blighting the lives of too many people. In today’s forecasts, unemployment is set to peak later this year and then fall in every year of the forecast period, ending at 4.1%, which is lower than it was at the start of the Parliament. However, young people in particular are still suffering from the aftermath of years of Tory mismanagement. In the last five years of the previous Government, the number of young people not in education, employment or training increased by 113,000. The number of inactive young people reached record highs under the Conservative Government, and over the last decade, apprenticeship starts by young people fell by 40%. This Government will not leave an entire generation of young people behind. We are already taking action to prioritise young people with additional investment to reform apprenticeships and through the £820 million youth guarantee, providing young people with employment support and a guaranteed job. In the coming weeks, I will set out more reforms to undo the Tory legacy of neglect, and give young people the support and the opportunity that they deserve. In the face of global uncertainty, we beat the forecasts last year. In the year ahead, the choices that we are making give me confidence that we will beat them again. In the year ahead, more of the choices that we have already made will come into effect: discounts on business energy costs; trade deals with India, the US and the EU; reforms to back our entrepreneurs; investment in our infrastructure; skills funding for further education; and more planning reforms—progress opposed by the Conservatives, opposed by Reform, opposed by the Liberal Democrats, and opposed by the Green party too. It is Labour and only Labour that has the right plan for our country. Our plan for growth is grounded in a profound rejection of the failed economic dogmas of the past—the trickle-down, trickle-out thinking that produced ever-diminishing returns for working people. I know that an economy cannot be working if it is delivering for only a few people in a few places; I know that it matters where things are made and who makes them; and I believe that the working people who keep our country moving deserve a fair day’s pay for an honest day’s work. Since the election, I have been making the big choices that will bring about the deep structural changes that our economy needs so that it works again for working people: the choice to take on vested interests and back the builders, not the blockers; the choice to increase public investment and protect our public finances with new fiscal rules; and the choice to give people in all parts of our country the opportunities that they deserve by reforming the Treasury spending rules in the Green Book to unlock investment in all of our urban, rural and coastal communities. Those are the right choices for our country—for security, stability and growth. Today’s forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility show that they are starting to pay off. I am clear-eyed about where the opportunities for the British economy lie in this Parliament and beyond. In my second Mais lecture in two weeks’ time, I will set out three major choices that will determine the course of our economy into the future: to go further in strengthening our global relationships, breaking down trade barriers and deepening alliances with our European partners for a more secure and connected economy; to go further in backing innovation and harnessing the power of AI, so that entrepreneurs and innovators thrive here in Britain, and so that working people reap the rewards; and to go further in transforming our economic geography so that we can build growth on a broad and stable basis, spreading opportunity and unlocking opportunity in every part of Britain. I came into politics because I believe in Governments who stand up for working people; that everyone, no matter where they grow up, deserves security and a fair chance to achieve their potential; and that being able to manage the bills, afford a home and pay for a holiday should never be too much to ask. When Governments lose control of the economy, as the Tories did, it is working people who pay the price—in their pay packets, in their bills and in their mortgages. That is what the Conservatives inflicted on working people over 14 years. We had austerity, which cut off investment; Brexit, which cut us off from our closest trading partners; and Liz Truss’s disastrous mini-Budget, cheered on by the Leader of the Opposition and by the hon. Member for Clacton (Nigel Farage)—oh, he’s not here today. [ Laughter. ] Five Prime Ministers, seven Chancellors, and 11 plans for growth, and at the end of it all, it was the only Parliament on record where living standards were worse at the end than they were at the start, and there was a £22 billion black hole in the public finances. That is the Conservatives’ legacy. And make no mistake, the Tory tribute act on the Reform UK Benches would do exactly the same thing. They may have changed the colour of their rosettes, but the British people will not forget that they are the exact same people who wrecked our public services and our public finances in the Tory Government—the same people, the same policies, and the same disastrous outcomes for working people. The Tories left our country, our people and our allies exposed. They had no plan and no intention to fund their pledge to spend 2.5% of GDP on defence. Reform UK would go one step further, by ditching our allies and siding with Russia, while the Green party wants to take us out of NATO and jeopardise our alliances. Green Members are shaking their heads. I do not know if they have changed their policy, but it was to take us out of NATO. Let me be clear: it is Labour and only Labour that can provide social justice, national security and fiscal responsibility. In its forecast today, the Office for Budget Responsibility shows that we are set to reduce borrowing by nearly £18 billion compared with the autumn. This year we are set to borrow less than the G7 average—something that the Tories never achieved in any of their 14 years. The forecast today shows that public sector net borrowing is set to fall from 4.3% this year to 3.6% next year, then to 2.9%, 2.5% and to 1.8% in 2029-30. Even after funding other measures announced since the Budget, including the new special educational needs system that was set out by my right hon. Friend the Education Secretary last week, headroom against the stability rule in 2029-30 has increased from £21.7 billion to £23.6 billion, and headroom against the investment rule is also higher at £27.1 billion. Debt is now set to be lower in every year of the forecast compared with the autumn. It is because of the choices that I have made to keep our public finances stable and restore our credibility that we can invest in the priorities of working people. That means investment in our communities with Pride in Place; investment in our schools to fix crumbling classrooms and give every child the education that they deserve; and investment in our NHS, to bring waiting lists down and with a record cash settlement. I have never accepted that we have to choose between social justice and fiscal responsibility, because there is nothing progressive, nothing Labour, about spending £100 billion a year—that is £1 in every £10 of what the Government spend—just paying the interest of the debt racked up by the Conservatives. After their disastrous mini-Budget, our debt interest rate soared towards the highest in the G7. From my Budget to this forecast, while average yields rose for the rest of the G7, yields on UK Government debt fell. The Tories squandered Britain’s credibility. My plan is rebuilding it. Already, because of the action that I have taken, we are expected to spend nearly £4 billion less on debt interest next year than was forecast in the autumn. If we stay the course and stick to our plan, and our debt interest returns to the G7 average—where it was before the Conservatives wrecked things with Liz Truss’s mini-Budget—we will have £15 billion a year more for the priorities of working people and to make working people better off. That is the prize on offer. That is the prize within our grasp. This is the right plan—a plan that is more necessary than ever before in a world of uncertainty. It is a plan for a stronger and more secure economy; inflation and interest rates falling; resilient public finances; and in every part of Britain working people better off. Every additional patient treated in an NHS hospital, every child lifted out of poverty, and every breakfast club in every school is because of the choices that we have taken and because I have the right plan for our country. Let this House be in no doubt: every pound that we have invested, every pound in the pockets of working people, and every pound that we have secured in this forecast today can be wiped out by a change of course. We must reject a return to austerity, protect our public services and invest in Britain’s future. We must reject the temptation of easy answers and reckless borrowing, protect family finances and get the cost of living down. We must reject the political instability that would put at risk all the progress that we have made. My plan is the right one. I am in no doubt about how great the rewards can be if we stay the course. The forecast today confirmed that the choices this Government have made are the right ones: stability in our public finances, interest rates and inflation falling, living standards rising, more children lifted out of poverty, more appointments in our NHS, more investment in our infrastructure, a growing economy, and more money in the pockets of working people. These are the right choices, this is the right plan, and I commend this statement to the House.

• 3 Mar 2026 · Spring Forecast · Hansard source

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  It was a real honour for me to be able to visit my hon. Friend’s constituency and see the Type 31 frigates being built there. This Government are investing in defence, and in the skills of our young people so that they can get the jobs in these expanding sectors—unlike the SNP Government in Scotland, who are not investing in our young people. Too many defence companies are having to bring in labour from abroad because of the SNP’s dislike of defence spending.

• 3 Mar 2026 · Spring Forecast · Hansard source

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  When I visited Kettering with my hon. Friend recently, it was just ahead of the capital investment in new SEND provision in her constituency, so that more young people—some of the most vulnerable—can be educated locally in Kettering, with better outcomes for them. On student finances, the last Government lost control of inflation, and, of course, student loans under plan 2 and other schemes are linked to inflation. Because we have reduced inflation, we will be reducing how much interest people pay on their student loans. That is the best way to help them.

• 3 Mar 2026 · Spring Forecast · Hansard source

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  The previous Government presided over a 113,000 increase in the number of young people not in education, employment or training, and the number of youth apprenticeships was cut by 40%. Why does the hon. Gentleman think that unemployment among young people is a challenge? It is because of the decisions that the previous Government made. That is why we are putting more than £800 million into a youth guarantee, it is why we are putting more money into further education—which his Government failed to do—and it is why we are expanding the number of youth apprenticeships. We recognise there is a challenge. The difference between our Government and the hon. Gentleman’s is that we are doing something about it, and they never did.