Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves says “the damage has been done” by the mini-budget.
Responding to Jeremy Hunt’s statement today, Ms Reeves said the “Conservatives have lost all credibility”, and that they cannot provide the “confidence and stability” the chancellor said was needed.
Ms Reeves said: “There will continue to be a huge cost to families because of the actions of this Tory government.
“We are still flying blind with no OBR forecastsand no clarity of the impact of their mistakes.
“The humiliating climb-down on their energy plan begs the question yet again – why won’t they bring in a windfall tax on energy producers to help foot the bill?
“Only Labour offers the leadership and ideas Britain needs to fix the economy and get out of this mess.”
Labour’s shadow chancellor,Rachel Reeves says, the government’s economic plan won’t result in annual growth of 2.5%.
Liz Truss, according to Ms. Reeves, does not understand how her policies are affecting the public.
“The prime minister just doesn’t seem to understand the anxiety and fear,” Ms Reeves told the BBC.
“This is a crisis made in Downing Street but it is ordinary working people who are paying the price.”
It has been suggested that the Truss administration is trying to use “tickle down economics” – the idea that tax cuts for the rich will create greater wealth in general, some of which will “trickle down” to those who are less well off.
It was announced in the mini-budget nine days ago that the top rate of tax – 45% – was being abolished.
But Ms Reeves commented: “The idea that trickle-down economics is somehow going to deliver the 2.5% growth we all want to see is for the birds.
“The prime minister and the chancellor are doing some sort of mad experiment with the UK economy and trickle-down economics.
“It has failed before and it will fail again.”
The prime minister has said that removing the top rate of tax was the chancellor’s idea.
But the chancellor’s spokesperson has said the pair are “in lockstep” on the issue (12.18 post).
A YouGov poll dropped at around 10 pm giving the party a thumping 17-point lead – the biggest for 20 years.
Of course, it is only one poll, and Sir Keir Starmer’s top team insists they are not complacent about the need to win back people’s trust.
But some could not resist letting the excitement show, one former minister saying “it feels like the mid-90s” when Tony Blair was two years away from a landslide.
Many other Labour figures are keenly aware that a lot could happen before the next election in two years’ time, but there is a palpable sense that Labour scent power.
Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, told the conference that a Labour government “is on its way”.
Today, Wes Streeting told Sky News that his message to mortgage lenders and worried homeowners is that “the cavalry is coming” – in the shape of a Labour government – at the next election.
There are big questions about how Labour will finance its plans, given they have pledged to keep the income tax cut announced by Kwasi Kwarteng despite a bleak economic outlook.
Today’s speech cannot promise huge investments in public services. The message is that Labour is the party of “sound money”, while the Conservatives have squandered that reputation – as the turmoil in the financial markets has demonstrated.
Also buoying the party is the number of businesses attending and sponsoring events.
Shadow ministers say they have been inundated with requests for meeting with corporations keen to hear about Labour’s plans.
After months of hammering Boris Johnson on his personal integrity, Labour insiders say Sir Keir “relishes” the fight on the economy.
They say he needs to do three things – show the party has changed, interrogate the government’s record, and lay out the country he wants to build.
If his speech is to hit the mark today, voters will need to believe there is progress on all those fronts in the months ahead.
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