Can Rachel Reeves inject some optimism into the debate around Britain’s economy? That seems to be her ambition today, as she prepares to address Labour conference – and the country – this afternoon, where she will look forward to a ‘decade of national renewal’ and promise ‘no return to austerity.’
The change in language is striking. Having used this summer to prepare people for a ‘painful’ and ‘difficult’ Budget in October that will have to include tax hikes and spending cuts, Reeves is now talking about the fiscal event as ‘a Budget to rebuild Britain’, and pointing to a much more positive future: a economic ‘prize’ of a more stable economic foundation, ‘if we make the right choices now.’
But two questions remain: has this pivot come too late, and will the Budget announcements be compatible with this more optimistic tone?
There is already concern that this summer’s doom-and-gloom language has done damage to investment prospects in the UK, as Britain has been described by its governing party as a country with an economy close to the brink – a place where £1.5
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