Rachel Reeves defended her decisions to cut winter fuel allowance and abandon infrastructure projects, citing the need to pave the way for a more optimistic economic future under the Labour government. In her first speech to the Labour conference as chancellor, Reeves acknowledged the unpopular cuts were necessary due to the economic challenges inherited from the previous Conservative government. Despite facing criticism, she emphasized the government’s commitment to public-sector pay raises and long-term plans for economic growth and British industry revitalization. Reeves assured that the upcoming budget would not signal a return to austerity, with Whitehall budgets expected to rise on average, although individual departments may not see the same increase. The chancellor’s speech, which included plans to investigate Covid contracts, was met with a standing ovation from delegates, despite a brief disruption from a heckler.
Rachel Reeves defends Labour’s cuts to winter fuel allowance | Labour conference 2024
Rachel Reeves has defended her decisions to cut winter fuel allowance and abandon infrastructure projects, as she argued the decisions taken in the early weeks of the Labour government would pave the way to a more optimistic economic future.
Giving her first speech to Labour conference as chancellor, Reeves insisted that she had been forced to make unpopular cuts because of the economic inheritance left by the last Conservative government.
But she also attempted to strike a more optimistic note about what a Labour government would achieve in the long term, telling delegates she was building “a Britain of opportunity, fairness and enterprise”.
Reeves told the conference: “I know that not everyone in this hall or in the country will agree with every decision that I make. I will not duck those decisions, not for political expediency, not for personal advantage.”
She added: “I judged it the right decision in the circumstances that we inherited. I did not take those decisions lightly. I will never take the responsibilities of this office lightly.”
She also defended the government’s decision to raise public-sector pay even in the face of the difficult spending outlook.
“We made that choice not just because public-sector workers needed a pay rise, but because it was the right choice for parents, patients and for the British public, the right choice for recruitment and retention, and it was the right choice for our country,” she said.
“If the Conservative party want to fight about who can be trusted to make the right choices for our public services and those who use them, then I say, bring it on.”
At almost the exact moment she was delivering this message, however, the Royal College of Nursing announced its members had rejected a 5.5% pay increase from the government.
Trade unions have been a thorn in Labour’s side throughout this conference, and are now organising a vote calling on the government to reverse the cuts to winter fuel payments.
Some in the union movement, as well as in the business community and the wider party, believe that Labour has sounded too pessimistic during its first few weeks in power, talking too much about its fiscal inheritance and not enough about its long-term plans.
The chancellor tackled that criticism on Monday, smiling widely as she delivered her speech and promising Labour would restore economic growth and reinvigorate British industry.
“What you will see in your town, in your city, is a sight that we have not seen often enough in our country: shovels in the ground, cranes in the sky, the sounds and the sights of the future arriving,” she said. “We will make that a reality.”
She added: “This is our moment, our chance to show that politics can make a difference, that Britain’s best days lie ahead.”
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She insisted that next month’s budget would not herald a return to austerity. She told the BBC earlier in the day that Whitehall budgets would rise on average, but would not make the same promise for individual departments.
Economists say that an average rise in Whitehall budgets of 1% over inflation – which was assumed under the previous government’s plans – would mean steep cuts to unprotected areas, such as courts and local government.
And in a repeated passage, which echoed Gordon Brown’s 2009 conference speech as prime minister, she said: “That is the Britain I believe in. That is the Britain we are building.”
A Labour official said: “We needed to be honest about the scale of the challenge. The public and businesses want government to be honest. This speech was about the prize at the end of it.”
She announced little new policy but did confirm plans, first revealed by the Guardian, to relaunch investigations into £674m worth of Covid contracts. The announcement led to a standing ovation from delegates.
Reeves’s speech was briefly disrupted by a heckler protesting about British arms sales to Israel, which the chancellor brushed off by saying: “We’ve had the years of protest, we’ve had years of division and decline, but left working people worse off.”
Read the full story on www.theguardian.com
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/sep/23/rachel-reeves-defends-labour-cuts-winter-fuel-allowance