Shadow minister Jonathan Reynolds has condemned “trickle down bull***t” from the Government as he declared “the clear dividing lines” between Labour and the Tories are back. The shadow business secretary said he is “sick” of the Conservatives’ approach, while shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said asking the Tories to fix the current crises is “like asking the arsonist to put out the fire they created”.
Mr Reynolds told the Labour First conference rally in Liverpool it is an “indictment of the Tories” that “the average household in Slovenia will – by the time of the next general election – be better off than the average British household”. He cited Britain’s “amazing” businesses, adding: “The question for the Tories is how, with everything good we have going for us… have they got it so wrong?”
“What I love most of all about this particular audience is I know you are as sick of opposition and (with) the sheer weight of this country’s potential, as I am, and I love you for that,” he said. “I’ve got a simple message for you today, and it’s that politics is back, the clear dividing lines between us and the Tories are back, and I for one say we should relish that, and not shrink from the fight.”
He criticised “years of obfuscation” from the Tories, with “promises that will build bridges to nowhere”.
“They say their own record has been a disaster,” he said. “Just look at what they’re putting forward as a solution – it’s tax cuts for the wealthy, cuts to employment rights, fracking, Jacob Rees-Mogg.
“It’s hopeless and it’s wrong, but most of all we know it won’t work. And it’s the same old, trickle-down bull***t, quite frankly, and I for one am sick of it.”
Mr Streeting struck an optimistic tone in his own address at the fringe event, citing a “transformation in the fortunes of the Labour Party” since it last met in Liverpool. He said he can “see the victory line right in front of us”, and declared: “I have never felt a weight on my shoulders as I do at this conference.”
The shadow health secretary said the last Labour government showed “the power of change”, adding that the party now has a leadership “proud” of that record. But he added: “We are not here to be a tribute act, we are not here to play the greatest hits of the past. We’ve got to offer hope of a better future.”
He said asking the Tories to fix the current crises is “like asking the arsonist to put out the fire they created”.
