After 14 years of Conservative government, in three weeks the British public will have the chance to vote for change.
On Tuesday, the Conservatives published their general election manifesto. Just a few hours after its publication, Labour identified an estimated £71bn of unfunded commitments. It is a reckless and dishonest offer.
We’ve been here before. It is less than two years since the Conservatives’ mini-budget. In 2022, their wild wishlist of uncosted tax cuts crashed the economy, sent mortgage costs soaring and put pensions in peril.
Now, they are once again making lavish, unfunded promises. I started my career as an economist at the Bank of England, and I can tell you exactly where this would lead. Labour analysis shows that the money is not there: going ahead with these plans would risk pushing up interest rates and and could risk adding up to £4,800 to the average mortgage over the next parliament.
It takes some gall for the party that raised the tax burden to its highest level in 70 years to pose as the party of low taxes. They talk about cutting taxes, but their record is of raising them.
When the Labour manifesto is published today, you will see something very different: a fully costed, fully funded plan to change Britain for the better.
If I am the chancellor of the exchequer after 4 July, my central priority will be to revive economic growth. The reason we are a high-tax economy today, even while our schools, hospitals and police struggle, is because we have been a low-growth economy for 14 years.
When we talk about growth, we are not just talking about lines on a graph. It’s about money in the pockets of working people, security in retirement, thriving high streets, and the tax revenues to rebuild strong public services.
The mandate we are asking for is to restore economic growth – and doing what it takes to achieve that. Our manifesto contains a detailed plan for growth based on three things: stability, investment and reform.
First, stability is the rock upon which everything else will be built. Stability means families being able to plan ahead and businesses being able to invest with confidence. It means ending the political chaos of the past 14 years. And it starts with tough spending rules for government, to keep taxes, inflation and mortgages as low as possible.
We have started as we mean to go on, which is why every policy we campaign on and every line in our manifesto has been fully costed and fully funded. Taxpayers rightly expect the government to treat their money with the same care they would treat their own. I get that. My mum and dad were primary school teachers. Growing up, we weren’t poor, but we didn’t have money to spare.
I remember my mum used to sit at the kitchen table with her receipts and her bank statement, going through them line by line. To her, every penny mattered. That is the attitude I want to bring into the Treasury next month, cracking down on the waste and fraud that have been allowed to run rampant under the Tories.
Alongside stability, we need investment. Our plan for investment is based on working with business, to invest in new industries and new jobs. We don’t arrogantly think the government can fix its problems alone. We need to work with business, with a real industrial strategy, to get Britain growing again.
Third, we need reform, to take on the vested interests and barriers in the way of a strong economy. That includes a plan to make work pay and to give workers the security they need to get ahead, with an end to fire and rehire and exploitative zero-hour contracts, and basic rights from day one. And it includes taking on our planning system, the single biggest barrier to new investment and new housing, so we can get Britain building again. This adds up to a plan that is pro-worker and pro-business – because Keir and I know each depends on the success of the other.
Keir Starmer has changed the Labour party. With this manifesto, we are ready to change Britain. This is our chance to end the chaos, turn the page and start a decade of national renewal. Your vote matters – don’t waste this chance.
Rachel Reeves is the shadow chancellor
Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
