As Rachel Reeves stood next to two union flags in a boarded-up room, it looked as if she had stepped into Rishi Sunak’s press conference room in Downing Street. It was a deliberate move.
The Shadow Chancellor has been preparing for this moment for months, warning of rising recession risks after last quarter’s GDP figures showed negative growth.
Mr Reeves was keen to impress on voters the phrase “Rishi’s recession”, accusing Mr Sunak of “reversing” the economy and leaving promises of economic growth “in tatters”.
One Labor source said it was “an economic and political moment” for the government to fall into recession in an election year when Rishi Sunak was all about economic growth.
Labor officials said Mr. Reeves wanted to speak directly to the country at such a critical time, rather than showing a short video on a television screen.
“The picture we want this country to see is a competent alternative to what you’ve been through, doubling down on Rachel’s core strength: people who look to her and believe in her.” a source said. They say Mr Reeves is now preparing to end the debate over Labour’s £28bn green investment pledge and make the election all about economic strength.
Ahead of the decision to scrap the pledge, Labor officials were embroiled in a dispute over how to pay for the pledge and feared Tory attacks on their spending plans. But by abandoning the £28bn figure after weeks of uncertainty, Mr Reeves and his team now feel they can “prosecute economic cases more effectively”, one said. the official said.
Mr Reeves’ speech signaled Labor was on track to get back on top after a difficult few days in which it had narrowly lost its lead in the polls, with Keir Starmer saying Labor had temporarily lost parliament. It is under fire for not acting quickly enough to stop it. Labor candidate accused of spreading conspiracy theories about Israel.
The Shadow Chancellor, responding to questions about the Rochdale candidate row, said he was confident the remarks were made in a closed-door meeting and Labor could not know everything about what was said behind closed doors. It seemed like that.
She also brushed off a question about what she would do if she stood in Jeremy Hunt’s shoes in next month’s budget, apart from saying Labor would aim for growth with a reform program and modern industrial strategy.
Questions remain about how Labor’s economic policies differ from those of the Conservatives. Now that the party has withdrawn its £28bn green investment pledge, it has been the subject of political attack but had high public support.
Reeves made a fuss about going along with the Conservatives’ tax cuts, saying he was “not hiding the fact that: [she] I want to lower taxes for working people, as much as money allows it. But Mr Sunak and Mr Hunt are believed to be pushing for cuts to public spending to fund tax cuts, potentially putting Labor in a difficult position over whether to follow suit.
The Shadow Chancellor spoke of “tough choices ahead” but did not go further on how Labor would deal with a scenario in which the Conservatives went to the polls promising tax cuts on the back of new austerity. There wasn’t.
