Government must go ‘further and faster’ on growth, Chancellor tells Labour MPs

Rachel Reeves faced Labour MPs on Monday ahead of a major speech on growth later in the week. (Ben Birchall/PA) - (PA Wire)

Rachel Reeves has told Labour MPs the Government needs to go “further and faster” on growth as she prepares for a major speech later this week.

Labour has made expanding the economy its number one mission in Government, but the Chancellor has faced questions about her plans since the start of the year, amid stuttering growth figures and rising borrowing costs.

She appeared upbeat as she arrived at the weekly meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) in Westminster on Monday evening with a focus on growth.

After praising Cabinet ministers for their work on “kick-starting economic growth”, she said cost-of-living pressures meant the Government “must go further and faster”.

Over the past six months as Chancellor, my experience is that Government has become used to saying no. That must change. We must start saying yes

Rachel Reeves

She added: “The only way we can turn this around is through economic growth.”

Ms Reeves is expected to make economic growth the key theme of a speech on Wednesday, recapping what the Government has already done and announcing new policy as she searches for the growth needed to deliver Labour’s plans.

She told Labour MPs her speech would be about “economic growth built on the platform of stability”, adding that there were “no easy routes out”.

She said: “There are always reasons for Government to say no.

“Over the past six months as Chancellor, my experience is that Government has become used to saying no. That must change. We must start saying yes.”

Ms Reeves has made similar comments in recent days when asked about speculation that she could approve a series of infrastructure projects including the long-debated third runway at Heathrow Airport, although she has declined to comment directly on the subject.

After the meeting, her spokesman said MPs responded with “overwhelming support” for the Chancellor.

But he admitted there had been one dissenting voice over Heathrow, backbencher Ruth Cadbury, a long-standing opponent of the third runway whose Brentford and Isleworth constituency borders the airport.