Chancellor pledges investment ‘to fix foundations’ will feature in Budget

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Chancellor pledges investment ‘to fix foundations’ will feature in Budget

The autumn budget will be used to “rebuild Britain” and “fix the foundations” the Chancellor is expected to say during her speech at the Labour Party conference.

The government is hoping their first conference since winning the election will move them past the donation row that has dominated headlines in recent weeks.

After weeks of warning about a poor economic legacy left by the Conservative government, Rachel Reeves is also expected to signal a path towards further public investment, which she will claim is the “solution” to the UK’s growth problem.

The Chancellor’s speech comes after Sir Keir Starmer vowed Labour would not return to an austerity agenda to deal with public spending pressures.

Ms Reeves will insist economic stability is “the crucial foundation on which all our ambitions will be built”, as she seeks to justify to Labour members the spending restrictions which are aimed at filling a £22 billion “black hole” in public finances.

Labour is bracing for a fight over some of the measures aimed at closing the gap having already faced backlash for cutting the winter fuel payments for most pensioners.

But Ms Reeves will join Sir Keir in maintaining “there will be no return to austerity” in an appeal to the Labour movement.

The conference opened on Sunday. Credit: PA

“Conservative austerity was a destructive choice for our public services – and for investment and growth too,” the Chancellor will say.

She is expected to add: “We must deal with the Tory legacy and that means tough decisions. But we won’t let that dim our ambition for Britain.

“So it will be a budget with real ambition. A budget to fix the foundations. A budget to deliver the change we promised. A budget to rebuild Britain.”

In a signal of Labour keeping its manifesto commitments, Ms Reeves will promise not to raise national insurance, income tax and VAT.

Angela Rayner made her speech on Sunday. Credit: PA

She will also say corporation tax is to remain at its “current level for the duration of this Parliament”.

Jeremy Hunt, the shadow chancellor, contested Labour’s assessment of the UK economy, and claimed Ms Reeves had “already damaged the UK’s international reputation by talking down her inheritance in order to score political points”.

He added: “If she believes in growth, where is the plan? People are beginning to suspect there may not be one.

“If all we get in the Budget is tax rises and employment laws that deter investment and job creation she will have thrown away a golden opportunity.”


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Ms Reeves’s speech will be the second most important of the conference, ahead of the prime minister’s.

On the first day of the conference, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner promised to toughen up workers rights and “rebalance” the tenant-landlord relationship.

She also outlined further plans for the “devolution revolution” as she pledged to end “northerners being dictated to by Whitehall”.

The Liverpool gathering was originally expected to be a victory lap for the party after its landslide success at the general election win but is facing numerous fights and a fallout over the recent donation scandal.


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