Rachel Reeves is set to deliver her much-touted ‘growth’ speech in Oxfordshire this morning after months of economic woes— a weakened pound, soaring borrowing costs, and capital fleeing the country. She’ll pledge to go “further and faster” on the government’s so-called plan for change (whatever that actually means) and declare “low growth is not our destiny.” The OBR’s forecast of flatlining GDP would beg to differ…
She’ll unveil nine new reservoirs, 4,500 homes in Cambridge, an Oxford-Cambridge ‘Growth Corridor’ for road and rail and also give the green light for Manchester United’s proposed 100,000-seat mega stadium. Reeves will warn that “growth will not come without a fight”—a fight that’s looking to be against her own Cabinet. She’s expected to back airport expansion, including at Gatwick, Luton, and Heathrow. A move she managed to sneak past her Net Zero zealot colleagues in yesterday’s Cabinet meeting, as Guido reported…
But before co-conspirators get too excited about this growth agenda, here’s a handy reminder of a few Labour policies so far that haven’t exactly been pro the ‘G’ word:
Meanwhile, Starmer’s vowed to cure the “sickness of stagnation” and slash red tape. Perhaps he should start eyeing some budget reversals next…
Sarah Pochin at Reform Scotland’s manifesto launch event: “I really wanted to come on in a Reform tartan burka, but apparently I wasn’t allowed… One day let’s do one of these events not live-streamed. We’ll do all the naughty stuff…”