Listening to Rachel Reeves’s speech at Labour party conference one could be forgiven for thinking Liz Truss is still in 10 Downing Street. The shadow chancellor referenced the former prime minister more times than Rishi Sunak as she used her moment on the conference stage in Liverpool to try to depict Labour as the less risky choice on the economy.
Reeves claimed that ‘Liz Truss might be out of Downing Street but she is still leading the Conservative party’. The shadow chancellor said that only a Labour government could safeguard against Truss’s Tories – and she was cheered when she mentioned her plan to introduce legislation to ensure the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) can independently publish its own impact assessment of any major fiscal event, in a reference to Truss’s mini budget. Expect more of these type of attacks in the coming months; Labour plans to ramp up the idea that, were the Tories to win a fifth term, the party would be a danger, as a reduced majority would see MPs on the right of the party wield greater influence.
The shadow chancellor referenced the former prime minister more times than Rishi Sunak
As for what a Labour government would do, Reeves once again said that fiscal discipline would be front and centre in a Labour government, vowing to stick to ‘iron-clad fiscal rules’ if in power. She also promised to raise stamp duty on property bought by overseas buyers – with the money going on housebuilding. When it comes to Labour’s ambitious claims on growth, it’s clear that Reeves sees planning reform as key. She suggested a planning rules shake up would not only mean more housing but also speed up green energy and 5G projects (though questions remain on how long this could take to have a significant impact). This was one of the fleeting mentions of her green energy plan, with Reeves choosing to talk more about other Labour pledges.
Introducing Reeves to the stage was Mary Portas, the retail expert. The former adviser to David Cameron said Reeves was the politician who understood how to save the high street and her ideas were needed in No. 11. Given Portas has been very critical of the Tories in recent years her endorsement isn’t that surprising – but it fits with Reeves’s efforts in recent months to get big business and former Tory donors on side.
But the endorsement that Reeves will really be celebrating came after the speech in a video clip. Mark Carney, the former Bank of England governor, declared his backing for Reeves to be Britain’s next chancellor, describing her as a ‘serious economist’ and referencing her time working at the Bank of England. Now the riposte to this is that Carney has long been out of favour with parts of the Tory party – many Brexiteers associate him with Project Fear over Brexit. He also recently spoke in Montreal at a summit for centre left progressives. But given George Osborne as chancellor appointed Carney – chasing him across the world to do so and describing him as ‘the outstanding central banker of his generation’ – it’s this endorsement that, for at least some Tories, will hurt the most.
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