Rachel Reeves MP: speeches

Speeches

• 1 Jul 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  The problem with the Conservatives is that they support all the funding, but they do not support any of the ways of funding it. Agricultural property relief means that estates worth more than £3 million will now be taxed at half the rate at which inheritance tax is usually charged. That can be repaid over a 10-year period, interest-free. I think that is the right and fair settlement, given the fiscal environment we face.

• 1 Jul 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for that question. He will know that this Government have already invested through the National Wealth Fund in the tin mine in his constituency, bringing good-quality jobs paying decent wages to the people of Cornwall, as advocated by Cornish MPs. However, there is more we can do through the National Wealth Fund, including investing in our ports, which is absolutely vital for clean, cheap energy and for creating good jobs in this country, including in Cornwall.

• 11 Jun 2025 · Spending Review 2025 · Hansard source

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  The work that this Labour Government are doing will reduce inequality. We are giving a pay rise to millions of workers and creating defence jobs that pay a decent wage, and GB Energy will be headquartered in Scotland. Today I have been able to announce additional investment in the seafront in my hon. Friend’s constituency, which will bring economic benefits.

• 11 Jun 2025 · Spending Review 2025 · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Gentleman for welcoming what we did with British Steel in Scunthorpe. I know that he has been a strong voice advocating for British Steel there, unlike some of our late arrivals in another party. As for Viking CCS, I was very pleased to announce that funding today, along with the Acorn investment in Aberdeenshire. The Energy Secretary will set out, in due course, the timing and the money available, but after our investment in CCS in Merseyside and Teesside at the end of last year, we are now in a position to provide a second tranche in Aberdeen, and also in the Humber.

• 11 Jun 2025 · Spending Review 2025 · Hansard source

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  The Prime Minister was in Ipswich yesterday with my hon. Friend to visit a local college. He came back from that visit even more determined to crack on and build Sizewell nuclear power station in Suffolk because of the impact it will have not just on bringing down bills, but on bringing good jobs to Britain—good jobs through the supply chain—and on giving young people their hope and future back, knowing that they will have good jobs in the places they live, where they can make a career for themselves and bring prosperity to their families and communities.

• 11 Jun 2025 · Spending Review 2025 · Hansard source

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  My right hon. Friend is right. We are backing innovation, skills and infrastructure, because we are backing British business. We are also cutting red tape, as we did yesterday, when we took the Planning and Infrastructure Bill through the House, making it easier to get things built in Britain again. As we make the investments, we want those jobs to come to Britain, including in the energy sector, whether it is investment in small modular reactors, Sizewell C, carbon capture and storage or floating offshore wind. We will set out the industrial strategy in the next couple of weeks, in which we will have more to say about energy costs for business.

• 11 Jun 2025 · Spending Review 2025 · Hansard source

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  We as a Government were proud to be able to step in and save British Steel at Scunthorpe, and again I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Scunthorpe, but it is not just Scunthorpe. There are also opportunities in Sheffield and Port Talbot, because as we build this infrastructure—whether it is trams and trains, nuclear power or submarines—we want to use steel made in Britain. That is a really exciting opportunity, and the investments we are making in small modular reactors and fusion in Nottinghamshire and Derby create great opportunities for jobs. That is why we are also making a record investment in skills through the spending review, so that young people in North East Derbyshire and beyond can get access to the jobs that are being created.

• 11 Jun 2025 · Spending Review 2025 · Hansard source

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  After backing Teesside and Merseyside for carbon capture and storage last year, we are really pleased today to be able to announce tranche 2, with backing for both Acorn and Viking. We will crack on and get that investment to Aberdeenshire, as well as the investment that we are putting into Great British Energy. We know of the huge potential that Scotland has to contribute to those jobs and industries of the future in energy security, defence and so much more, and that is why we are backing Scotland with this spending review.

• 11 Jun 2025 · Spending Review 2025 · Hansard source

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  Okay, that is just the Tories—well, they need to explain how they would pay for it. I appreciate the fact that the hon. Lady welcomes some of our policies, but the job of the Chancellor and the Government is to ensure that the sums add up. We made difficult decisions last October, but I stand by those difficult decisions; without them, today we would not have been able to make the investments we have made in schools, energy and our health service. I am proud of what we have achieved as a Government, and I am proud of the investment that we are putting in today.

• 11 Jun 2025 · Spending Review 2025 · Hansard source

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  In the statement today we were able to announce investment for Acorn in Aberdeenshire and for Great British Energy, headquartered in Scotland, as well as substantial investment in defence—£11 billion extra by the end of the spending review period—to keep our country and the continent of Europe safe. Scotland and Glasgow have a proud tradition in the defence sectors, but our ambition is not being matched by the SNP Government. This Labour Government are backing defence across the whole of the UK, including Scotland.

• 11 Jun 2025 · Spending Review 2025 · Hansard source

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  I thank the Chair of the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee for that question. Warm homes are a big part of our plan to tackle the cost of living crisis, and the money that we have put into the warm homes plan today will mean that millions more homes can be retrofitted with better boilers, insulation and solar panels. On average, that takes £600 a year off people’s bills not just for one year, but for every year to come. My hon. Friend is absolutely right. What we have done today is set out a five-year package of capital investment, because it is crucial that the industry is able to plan for the future and that young people are therefore willing to train up and businesses are willing to invest in apprenticeships. That is why on all of our capital spending, including the warm homes plan, we have set out a five-year plan.

• 11 Jun 2025 · Spending Review 2025 · Hansard source

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  The hon. Lady knows that we increased money for flood defences in the spending review in autumn last year, because we knew that there was no time to waste. We have already increased that flood defence spending, in addition to what the previous Government were spending.

• 20 May 2025 · Spending Review: Economic Growth · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury is working closely with businesses right across the energy sector. The previous Government increased the rate of tax on energy companies to 75%, and we increased it by three percentage points to 78%, reflecting the fact that energy companies have enjoyed huge profits since Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. When people’s bills have gone up, it is right that we ask the energy companies making those profits to contribute a little more.

• 20 May 2025 · Northern Towns: Funding · Hansard source

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  I shall make sure that the Transport Secretary hears those requests, but the hon. Gentleman knows that our investment in British Steel, which will save that company, is set to increase the number of jobs there. That will make a massive difference to his constituents, as will the investment in renewable energy in the North sea, particularly around Immingham, creating good jobs and paying decent wages in his constituency and in many others, too.

• 8 Apr 2025 · National Wealth Fund: Regional Growth · Hansard source

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  My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster has set out new reforms for procurement rules to enable just that. We want more British businesses to win contracts. We want more small businesses in Britain to win contracts—businesses in all parts of the economy, including in food and farming. In farming, we gave a record settlement of £5 billion in the Budget last year to support this important part of our national economy.

• 8 Apr 2025 · Economic Growth · Hansard source

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  Impressive. We will be considering all such schemes as part of the spending review, but I agree with the hon. Gentleman that we need to go further and faster to grow our economy. That is why we are spending £113 billion more on capital investment in this Parliament, compared to the plans that we inherited, which means that we can upgrade more roads, rail lines and energy infrastructure, and build the 1.5 million homes our country needs too.

• 26 Mar 2025 · Spring Statement · Hansard source

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  At the Budget, we put record investment into our farming sector, after being left plans by the previous Government that did not even involve their using all their farming budget. We are determined to give farmers the support that they need.

• 26 Mar 2025 · Spring Statement · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The Government want people in Bishop Auckland and constituents in all parts of our country to feel the benefits of growth through good jobs paying decent wages. That is why we are increasing the national living wage; making work pay; and backing the builders—not the blockers—who are creating new jobs, new homes for families, new transport infrastructure and new energy infrastructure. The OBR has said today that, compared with the plans we inherited, real household disposable income per person is set to rise by £500 by the end of this Parliament. That shows the difference that the Government are making.

• 26 Mar 2025 · Spring Statement · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend speaks powerfully on behalf of her constituents, ensuring that the people of West Bromwich get a good deal from their public services and value for money when they pay their taxes. There was too much waste under the previous Government. That was exemplified during the pandemic, when so many contracts went to friends and donors. We have appointed a covid corruption commissioner because we want that money back in our public services, not in the hands of Tory friends and donors.

• 26 Mar 2025 · Spring Statement · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend speaks powerfully on behalf of his constituents in Gateshead, who rely on the infrastructure that our country needs, be it energy, digital or transport infrastructure, or the houses that all our constituents need. In the Budget last year I put £100 billion extra into capital spending during the course of this Parliament, and I have been able to announce an additional £13 billion today. Unlike the Conservative party, I am not willing to cut capital investment, because it is absolutely crucial to grow the economy and leverage the private sector investment that we need.

• 4 Mar 2025 · Economic Growth: East Midlands · Hansard source

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  The National Wealth Fund is doing important work in enabling us to leverage in private sector investment. The most recent of those investments include mining in Cornwall and energy charging points in our roads. At the end of last week, I announced that the fund would play a more important role in funding and supporting investments in the defence sector, which will become even more important in the years ahead.

• 21 Jan 2025 · Economic Growth · Hansard source

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  The problem with the Conservatives is that they support increased spending in vital areas but they have not supported any of the tax increases necessary to pay for them, which, frankly, is why we are in the situation we are in today, having inherited a £22 billion black hole in the public finances. The hon. Gentleman will know that in the Budget we announced £5 billion for the farming budget over two years— including the largest funding directed at sustainable food production and nature recovery in this country’s history—and £60 million to support farmers affected by flooding.

• 21 Jan 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I was pleased to appoint Tom Hayhoe to run the Office for Value for Money—somebody who has a track record of delivering value for money for taxpayers. What the Government want to scrap is giving contracts to friends and donors, because that was a colossal waste of money instigated by the Conservative party.

• 14 Jan 2025 · UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogue · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is absolutely right to say that economic growth has to be built on strong foundations, which is the approach of this Government. Our mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower is consistent with that. If we can ween ourselves off fossil fuels and the oil of dictators, we will be more secure in our economy, because we will not have to import so much from overseas.

• 14 Jan 2025 · UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogue · Hansard source

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  If the hon. Lady has a brief look at the documents from the Office for Budget Responsibility, she will see that the changes to the energy profits levy—taking the tax rate up from 75% to 78%, the same rate as in Norway—raises money; it does not lose money.