‘Exactly what economy needs’ – business groups welcome plans in Reeves’ growth speech
Business groups have strongly welcomed the measures in Rachel Reeves’ speech this morning.
Rain Newton-Smith, CEO at the CBI, said:
It’s crunch time for growth and today the chancellor has heeded business’ call to go further and faster. This is most evident in ministers grasping decisions that have sat on the desk of government for too long. This positive leadership and a clear vision to kickstart the economy and boost productivity is welcome …
The chancellor’s announcements are smart, looking to leverage the UK’s strengths including our world class universities, innovation and openness to global talent.
Shevaun Haviland, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, said:
The chancellor has laid down a clear marker on her intent to push for growth and these proposals can light the blue touchpaper to fire up the UK economy.
Expanding our international airport capacity, investing in modern roads and railways, and rebalancing the planning system all send signals that the UK is building for a better future.
And Tina McKenzie, policy chair of the Federation of Small Businesses, said:
Today’s rallying cry for government to choose growth is exactly what the economy needs. It sends a strong, confident message that from now on growth comes first, and any barriers to that will be erased.
Key events
More than 1,000 people who have sought support from the vaccine damage payment scheme after being injured or bereaved as a result of Covid jabs have been waiting more than a year for a decision on their application, the Covid inquiry has been told. PA Media reports:
Sarah Moore, a partner at law firm Leigh Day, told the inquiry today that there is a “real world impact” from delays.
It comes as she suggested a “bespoke compensation scheme or support scheme” specifically for those affected by Covid vaccinations should be put in place.
The vaccine damage payment scheme was set up as a result of the 1979 Vaccine Damage Payment Act and offers a tax-free payment of £120,000 to those who have been left severely disabled or bereaved as a result of vaccination.
However, Moore said that a change of government between 1978 and 1979 meant that the legislation was “hastily put together”.
She told the inquiry there have been 17,519 applications to the vaccine damage payment scheme following adverse reactions to Covid vaccines, and only 55% have had a decision.
“Of those 8,000 approximately who are still waiting for a decision, 1,027 people have been waiting for 12 months, 438 people have been waiting for more than 18 months, and 126 people have been waiting for more than two years now,” Moore added.
Alex Wickham from Bloomberg says Rachel Reeves’ speech has gone down well with centre-right thinktanks.
Centre-right think tanks are praising Reeves’ speech, while the main complaints come from climate groups on the left. Perhaps suggests she has begun to make a successful move back to the middle ground of British politics after the budget. And presents a big problem for Kemi Badenoch?
CPS @rcolvile: “The vast bulk of the Chancellor’s speech was hugely welcome”
Britain Remade @samrichardswebb: “For too long, Britain has failed to build the new homes, clean energy infrastructure, and transport links we desperately need. Today’s speech contained concrete steps towards changing that”
IEA @TomClougherty: “The Chancellor is saying all the right things on growth and should be applauded for many of the decisions she has taken today”
Conservative Environment Network @samuelhall0: “These are good market-friendly policies that Conservatives will regret not delivering in government”
Number of people thinking Britain right to leave EU hits record low, at 30%, poll suggests
On Friday it will be the fifth anniversary of the day the UK left the European Union. YouGov says the number of people who thnk that was the right decision is down to a record low in its polling, at 30%.
The number of Britons saying the UK was right to vote to leave the EU has hit its lowest level since the referendum, ahead of the fifth anniversary of Brexit on Friday
Keir Starmer has claimed the Conservatives are the “coalition of blockers” as he defended his government’s growth proposals and employment law reforms.
The prime minister highlighted opposition to airport expansion and a rail project from Tory frontbenchers, which prompted opposition leader Kemi Badenoch to brand Labour “hypocrites” for raising their own objections in the past.
Starmer, who dubbed the government the “coalition of builders”, was also urged by Badenoch to drop a series of measures contained in the employment rights bill because they “fail his growth test”.
After Badenoch told Starmer to “stop being a lawyer and start being a leader”, Starmer replied: “We know she is not a lawyer, she is clearly not a leader, if she keeps on like this, she is going to be the next lettuce.”
His remark was a nod to Liz Truss’s 49-day long premiership, which saw the Daily Star live-stream a lettuce to see if it would last longer than her tenure in No 10.
The bill raised at PMQs includes measures to introduce day-one protections from unfair dismissals, make changes to sick pay and ensures guaranteed hours on zero-hours contracts.
Badenoch said the government has “embraced a series of Conservative policies” before urging Starmer to “drop” the bill as it “clearly fails the prime minister’s growth test”, adding Whitehall analysis suggests it will cost businesses £5bn a year.
Starmer said the government was “not taking lectures” from the Conservatives.
Badenoch said the legislation would make it “harder for business to hire new employees”, adding: “This isn’t an employment bill. It’s an unemployment bill. Given these clauses, will he drop his bill and show that he is not anti-growth?”
Starmer replied: “We believe in giving people proper dignity and protection at work. That’s why we’re proud of our record of supporting workers. They consistently vote against any protection for working people.”
Peter Mandelson calls past remarks about Trump ‘ill-judged and wrong’
Peter Mandelson has said his past remarks that Donald Trump was “a danger to the world” were “ill-judged and wrong” before his expected confirmation as ambassador to the US, Eleni Courea reports.
A Conservative spokesperson declined to say whether or not Kemi Badenoch agreed with Suella Braverman when she said yesterday it was not impossible that Britain could have an Islamist government within the next 20 years. Badenoch had not had time to read the speech, the spokesperson said. But he did say Badenoch was in favour of “free speech” for MPs.
The spokesperson also dismissed suggestions that donors would be flocking to Reform UK, who held a £25,000-per-head dinner in Mayfair this week for wealthy people who might want to support the party. “There are lots of donors out there,” the spokesperson said.
‘Exactly what economy needs’ – business groups welcome plans in Reeves’ growth speech
Business groups have strongly welcomed the measures in Rachel Reeves’ speech this morning.
Rain Newton-Smith, CEO at the CBI, said:
It’s crunch time for growth and today the chancellor has heeded business’ call to go further and faster. This is most evident in ministers grasping decisions that have sat on the desk of government for too long. This positive leadership and a clear vision to kickstart the economy and boost productivity is welcome …
The chancellor’s announcements are smart, looking to leverage the UK’s strengths including our world class universities, innovation and openness to global talent.
Shevaun Haviland, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, said:
The chancellor has laid down a clear marker on her intent to push for growth and these proposals can light the blue touchpaper to fire up the UK economy.
Expanding our international airport capacity, investing in modern roads and railways, and rebalancing the planning system all send signals that the UK is building for a better future.
And Tina McKenzie, policy chair of the Federation of Small Businesses, said:
Today’s rallying cry for government to choose growth is exactly what the economy needs. It sends a strong, confident message that from now on growth comes first, and any barriers to that will be erased.
During PMQs, in his exchanges with Kemi Badenoch, Keir Starmer said:
We are the coalition of builders; they are the coalition of blockers.
It was reminscent of Liz Truss using her Tory conference speech as PM to attack the “anti-growth coalition” (a term that also could be applied to many Tory MPs, although Truss did not acknowledge that).
At the post-PMQs briefing, asked if Keir Starmer thought that Sadiq Khan was a blocker in the light of his opposition to a Heathrow third runway (see 11.36am), a Labour spokesperson replied:
No, we agree with the mayor of London that growth must come hand-in-hand with our climate obligations, and that’s why the chancellor set out that we support a third runway.
That will be in line with our climate obligations and we look forward to working closely with the mayor throughout the process.
The Treasury has now posted the text of Rachel Reeves’ speech this morning on its website.
PMQs – snap verdict
Kemi Badenoch has not yet found a route to winning at PMQs, and she did not manage it today. There was a brief moment, at the start of her second question, that summed up her predicament.
Badenoch accused Starmer of not answering her point about the employment rights bill “because he doesn’t know about it” and she went on to say that last week Starmer “misled the house” because he told her that an amendment to the schools bill had been tabled (addressing a potential flaw in the schools bill Badenoch was highlighting) – when in fact the amendment hadn’t been tabled, just announced. (When colleagues last checked, it still had not been tabled.) But the Speaker, Lindsay Hoyle intervened, because MPs are not allowed to accuse each other of deliberately misleading the house, and so Badenoch had to reword her point.
It was not a major gaffe. But it came across as a setback, indicative of inexperience – even though what Badenoch was saying was 100% correct. Similarly, her overall line of attack today had some substance and merit. Yet, for various reason, it had little cut-through.
On the plus side, for the second week in a row, Badenoch chose to raise a mainstream, important policy issued and devote all her questions to thrashing it out in some detail. This is a welcome relief from the ‘What’s Elon been tweeting about overnight?’ approach (and probably a more reliable guide to electoral recovery – although, these days, God knows?)
Badenoch focused on the employment rights bill, and she argued that, because businesses say it will cost them £5bn a year, it would be bad for growth. She also claimed, in particular, that it did not pass Starmer’s own growth test.
Yesterday, the prime minister set his growth test. He said, ‘if a policy is good for growth, the answer is yes. If it’s not, the answer is no’. This morning the chancellor embraced a series of Conservative policies, although many are welcome, they will take years to deliver …
Let’s look at the employment bill. The government’s own figures say it will cost businesses £5bn a year. It clearly fails the prime minister’s growth test. Will he drop it?
The government argues in its impact assessment that the costs to business of the bill (relatively easy to quantify) are justified by the benefits (which are harder to measure), and this was the argument that Starmer deployed.
We believe in giving people proper dignity and protection at work. That’s why we’re proud of our record of supporting workers. They consistently vote against any protection for working people.
We are driving growth on behalf of working people. Good work rights are consistent with growth, every good business knows that.
But it was not just the argument that gave him the edge. For once, he sounded genuinely passionate. He engaged directly with what Badenoch was saying, and he answered her bluntly and powerfully. (“Will he drop these measures from the bill?” – “No, I think they are good for workers and good for growth.”) Maybe it was being accused of being dishonest early, maybe employment rights engages his innate leftism more than other topics, but for whatever reason he sounded effective.
Starmer was also a bit more withering than usual about the Tories’ record, which worked well today. This is a factor that gives him a structural advantage at PMQs – and will continue to do so for a long period of time.
But there was one other moment that helped Starmer this week. For some time now Badenoch has been using the “lawyer, not a leader” jibe against Starmer. It is not a fair criticism (nobody could have crushed Corbynism in the Labour party, as Starmer did, without strong leadership qualities), but it is a neat line, it’s memorable and it probably does encapsulate a lot of the negativity people feel about Starmer’s mangerialism.
Referring to the employment rights bill, Badenoch said:
This bill is terrible for business, but it is great employment for lawyers. I know the prime minister loves the legal profession, but he needs to stop being a lawyer and start being a leader.
And Starmer replied:
I understand she likes straight talking, she is talking absolutely nonsense. She knows that anybody that understands anything about the bill or any employment law will know you can’t start in the morning and go to the tribunal in the afternoon.
Now, we know she is not a lawyer, she is clearly not a leader, if she keeps on like this, she is going to be the next lettuce.
It is not the wittiest line ever. But the Commons at noon on a Wednesday is a cheap audience (or at least, for Starmer, 401 of them are) and in PMQs terms that was a decisive blow.
Andrew Rosindell (Con) says his constituents are shocked by the ONS projection saying the population will rise to 72m. Who voted for that? There is no mandate for that.
Starmer says Rosindell should talk to his leader. Net migration went through the roof under the Tories and Badenoch was “cheering it on”, he claims.
Calvin Bailey (Lab) asks about 10 service personnel killed on a flight over Iraq during the war. He names them all, and asks the PM to join him in commemorating their service.
Starmer does so. He also pays tribute to Bailey for his service in the RAF.
Emily Thornberry (Lab) asks about a constituent who was sacked from MI6 for being gay. Will the government redress this wrong?
Starmer says this is an important issue. The government has approved compensation for armed forces personnel who were sacked for being gay. He says the Foreign Office will look at this issue.
John Milne (Lib Dem) asks what helps councils and hospices are getting with the cost of the rise of national insurance.
Starmer says councils got a funding increase this year.
Gordon McKee (Lab) asks about DeepSeek and AI. To develop AI, you need lots of energy, and cold weather. Scotland has both, he says. So will the government promote AI in Scotland.
Starmer says it is good to hear a Labour voice promoting development in Scotland, in contrast to the SNP.
Clive Jones (Lib Dem) asks about the Royal Berkshire hospital in Reading. Why is it acceptable for people to have to wait another 18 years for it to be repaired.
Starmer says, under the Tories, there was only “a pretend plan” for this hospital. That is unforgiveable, he says.
Luke Charters (Lab) asks about paternity leave.
Starmer says the government is extending parental rights. The Conservatives want to roll them back, he says.
Paul Kohler (Lib Dem) says he went into politics as a consequence of being the victim of an attack. A restorative justice programme made a big difference to his family. Will the PM extend these schemes?
Starmer says he has seen the power of restorative justice schemes. Victims should have access to them, he says.
He said: "It's small things, like interaction with your more mature colleagues, that will tell you how to do this, how to do that."That is lacking in this work-
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