Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News Now 20240924

Up had a Labour Chancellor Stand Up and set out their party for government in ia years. They have been in opposition. They have been in opposition. They have felt the frustration of not being able to enact the policies they want to, now it is the chance for labour and the chancellor to set out their vision for the country. When it comes to anything in politics, and there is a recognition of this in the party, they are talking about what they have donein talking about what they have done in government so far, but the thing that really matters is whether or not i makes a difference. Can they deliver on the promises they made during the promises they made during the election campaign, some of which are likely to hear repeated now. Will that make a difference to the pout in their pocket. Ican hear i can hear the music booming. I think that is the video introducing the Chancellor Rachel reeves he was going to take to the podium in the next three years she is going to give a speech that we have spent a lot around 25 minutes or so. As you say, not a lot of detail, we expect the inside of the specific policy or its Spending Or Tax choices that are going to come in the budget at The End of october but is a big picture about a labours direction. They say they want to be honest about the state of public finances and the choices so to come for the show she struck a more optimistic note . We are expecting her to. We are talking but we expect and had to look at we expecting outlook about the price at The End of the pain. It will have a real impact on some people and a reminder that one of them is a reminder that one of them is a reminder that one of them is a reminder that one of the ones that have proved a particularly pretty but particularly difficult for the party is the decision to quite Winter Fuel payments from millions of pensioners. As im listening through the door, there is a lot of Clapping And Cheering going on it looks pretty full it looks pretty full. Here is Rachel Reeves taken to the stage right now. Applause thank you. Conference, thank you. This time last year, i stood on the stage and i made a commitment. I promised that we would get Britain Building again. Repairour would get Britain Building again. Repair our nhs and Apparel Growth again. Repair our nhs and apparelgrowth in again. Repair our nhs and Apparel Growth in every part of britain. Today, after 1a wasted years, i stand britain. Today, after 1a wasted years, istand here britain. Today, after 1a wasted years, i stand here as your chancellor of the exchequer, ready to deliver on that commitment. Applause at this conference, we welcome more than 200 new labour mps. Members of the most diverse parliament in our countrys history. Neighbour waiting for the very first time it is like south east cornwall, the isle of wight, aldershot, banbury and basingstoke, in hexham, or cheerand and basingstoke, in hexham, or cheer and the Weather Rally Labour is back in the service of any teas that we we never should have lost. In our port, coal, Steel And Mill towns. From bassetlaw and grimsby. To hartlepool, where the value, and bridgend. Conference, in edinburgh, in glasgow, across the Central Belt and out in the western isles, labour is back in scotland too. So let me pay tribute to the people in this hall he made that difference. Those who stayed and fought he through the Fat Howard years, though she came back to our party three Ks Leadership and those who joined us for the very first time. He helped to change our party and gave us this priceless chance to change our country for the better. To all of you, a huge thank you. In this hall, one year ago, i stated my intention but to be next time i addressed you, i would do so as the first female chancellor of the exchequer. Today, conference, you can consider that a promise fulfilled. 800 years, the post of chancellor of exchequer had existed, every one a man. On the 5th ofjuly, we made history every woman watching this will know no matter how high you climb, how hard you work, how qualified you there will always be moments where you are reminded, some people still do not believe in that women can get the job done but millions of women in our parties, in our Trade Unions and every walk of Life Beat back this doubts. I am here today because i wont because, yes, but most of all, i am here because of the efforts of those who went before me, trailblazing women. Likejenny trailblazing women. Like jenny lee, trailblazing women. Likejenny lee, Barbara Castle and our Friend And Inspiration harriet harman. I am Friend And Inspiration harriet harman. Iam here Friend And Inspiration harriet harman. I am here because of thousands of women, many of you in the Hole Today who Break Down Barriers and if we low expectations to pave the way for the rest of us. I am a Labour Chancellor because of that collective endeavour. I am the first Woman Chancellor because of that collective endeavour. It forced me and our generation of labour were known to follow in the footsteps of those before us, to write the work of all women back into our economic story, to show our daughters and granddaughters at they need to place no ceiling on their ambitions. That is the britain that we are building, that is the britain that i believe in. But why is it that two british people but to their trust in us for the first time in five general elections . It is because thanks to Ks Leadership, we left no stone unturned to show that labour is a party of economic responsibility and the party of Working People. We were elected because the first time in almost two decades, people looked at us, looked at me and it decided that labour could be trusted with their money. That is more than a political choice or a single line in any manifesto, it is about our values because we saw what happened two years ago when governments played Fast And Loose with the public finances. When the prices of food, Housing And Energy saw, it is Working People with mortgages, rents and bills to pay who suffer the consequences. I will not take that risk, i will repay the trust that people put in us. Trust is hard and. It is easily squandered. Just ask the conservatives. They pay the price for their incompetence, their dishonesty and their rule breaking. I their dishonesty and their rule breakinu. , breaking. I thought we were votin breaking. I thought we were voting for breaking. I thought we were voting for change, breaking. I thought we were voting for change, rachel. L this is nota this is not a party of protest. Applause Cheering And Applause We Area we are a Government Today because we change our Labour Party and we now have a chance to change our country for the better. Weve had years of protest, weve had years of Division And Decline but left work and people worse off. It was not for the conservatives just the heaviest defeat in their piety� s history but it was the heaviest defeat in any governing party in british history. Conference, i can tell you today, i can tell you today that i am so proud that our womens parliamentary Labour Party is bigger than the entire conservative parliamentary party Cheering And Applause so where we can serve go next . Was a class of the tight is their Leadership Contest has become. Was a clash of the tightest dead Leadership Contest there. They were under scheme ratchet. They form immigration in russia who find as of two right to work with sue ella braverman. Now smack in moderate to candid added the former Security Minister who says that he acts and his principles, previously demonstrated by backing this trust to be prime minister. And then, the former Business Secretary who claims that she became claiming she became Working Class at the age of 16. It was notjust because they were incompetent or deluded, notjust because they put party before country and of course, both of those are true. It is because they do not understand the world as it is today. They do not understand the premium of economic stability in an uncertain world. They do not understand that in our new age of insecurity, government cannot just of insecurity, Government Cannotjust Get of insecurity, government cannot just get out of insecurity, Government Cannotjust Get out of the way and even markets to their own devices. Instead, the tories clean it to the discredited, Trickle Down and trickle out dog might that destroy a economy that can be budged on just a few people, few parts of the country or a few industries. Their ideas choked of investment, opened wider gaps between different parts of the country and has suffocated growth and living standards. We will not make those mistakes. Yet, when their ideas were found wanting, what they do . Doubled down. Neverfit perfect neverforget doubled down. Neverfit perfect never forget what the conservatives did. Two years ago today, Tap Tax catches Tax Cuts for the witches, they said mortgages spirally and put people in peril. Tax cuts from the rich. You will hear many things in their conference, but she went to an apology. No apology for the cost of your mortgage. No apology for crumbling Clap Classes and commonly weightless. No apology for the mismanagement of our finances, dip degrading our institutions, they do not care. They have learned nothing. So be in No Doubt be in No Doubt that given the chance, they will try and do it all over again. Early week, the Labour Party, can stop them. So we must have no complacency, a relentless focus on the priorities of the british people and iron discipline. We cannot give them that chance. So lets resolve together today that we were not given them that chance. Now, i know that you are impatient for change. I am too. But conference, because of that legacy left by the conservatives, the road ahead is deeper and harder than we expected. You dont need to take my word for it. Figures released early on friday showed another month of record borrowing. Debt at 100 of gdp. That is the inheritors that they left in black and white. In my first weeks at the treasury, the true extent of the tory� s is a possibility was revealed to me. £22 Billion of spending plans this year that he previous government did not disclose. They had no planet to pay for it and they had covered it up, from parliament and from the british people. Departments had been allocated money that they were spending but did not exist. The money was not there. A20 £2 billion Black Hole which if not tackled now, or Pose Whiskey for years to come is a 22 Billion pounds Black Hole. That included. This included theirfailed were under policy. Almost £3 billion on rail projects. Nations reserve, intended for genuine emergencies, set to be spent three times over, only three months into the financial year. They were reckless, they were irresponsible and they acted in that a way that is because they believed it was right for our country, but because they believe it might rest be their party from defeat. They promise solutions that they knew could never be paid for. Roads that would never be built, Public Transport that would never arrive and hospitals that would never treat a single patient. They showed no regard for ordinary Working People and they did not care about the consequences. It was made clear to me at failure to act swiftly could undermine the uks fiscal position with implications for public debt, mortgages and prices. So, itook public debt, mortgages and prices. So, i took action to make the in year save as necessary. We are reviewing plans for new hospitals are promised by the conservatives but which they do not buy it for. Because of the Road And Rail projects promised by the conservatives but which they did not budget for. I made the choice to me to test the Winter Fuel payment so it is only targeted at those most in need. I know that not everyone in this hall or in the country will agree with every decision that i make, but i will not duck their decisions, not for political expediency, not for the personal advantage. Faced with that £22 Billion Black Hole that because every left this year and with a Triple Lock ensuring that the State Patient will write about estimated £1700 over the course of this parliament, ijudge that the right decision in the circumstances that we inherited. I did not take their decisions lightly, i will never take the was possibilities of this office lightly. And i will never take likely the trust of policies. They put too often the interest of Self Interest for the interest of the people. We must also deal with another Tory Legacy. I know how hard people work for their money. Taxpayers money should be spent with the same care which Working People spend their own money. And so, one year ago, Working People spend their own money. And so, one yearago, i promise you that this Labour Government would wage a war on tory waste. It has begun. I pledge that we would aim to halve Government Consultancy spend and we have already announced savings this year. I pledge that we would cuts down on the successes of tory ministers private Air Travel and weve already cancelled the £40 million contract for rishi sunak� s that helicopter. Vip helicopter. And i pledge that we would act on the carnival of Waste And Fraud that took place during the covid pandemic. Billions of pounds of public money handed out to friends and donors of the Conservative Party For W is modified from the taxpayer, more than their billion pounds spent on bbe that did not arrive, or was not fit for purpose. All under the cover of the greatest crisis of my lifetime. On entering government, we found 670 more million pounds of contracts in dispute where we inherited a recommendation from a government that any attempt to reclaim that money should be abandoned. The tories simply did not care. But labour will not stand for it, i will not stand for it so, as i promised, we are operating a covid corruption commissioner. It could not me more urgent and ive put a block on any contracts had been abandoned or waived until it has been independently assessed by doubts commissioner. I wont turn a Blind Eye to pride as enforcers. I went to turn a Blind Eye to those who use a national emergency to line their pockets. I went to them to get away with it. That money belongs in our police, in our Health Service and our school for that we want to let money back we want that money back next month, i would deliver the first budget of this Labour Government. The first Labour Budget in 14 years. Because i know how much damage has been donein know how much damage has been done in those 14 years, let me say one thing straight up. There will be no return to austerity. Applause conservative austerity was a destructive choice for our public services and for Investment And Growth too for the ps, we must deal with the Tory Legacy but i wont let that dim our ambition for britain. It would will be an ambition with real exit, a budget to deliver the tape that we promise, a budget to rebuild britain and my budget will keep our manifesto commitments, every choice we make will be within a fragment of economic and fiscal responsibility. We said we would not increase taxes on Working People which is why we will not increase the basic higher or additional rate of income tax, national and choice of vat and we want cuts in Corporation Tax at its current level for the duration of this parliament. As promised, we will extend the energy from its levy on Oil And Gas producers to invest in home grown energy here in britain. We will end the non dumb Tax Loopholes and we will it crackdown on Tax Avoidance and tax evasion, that is the difference the Labour Government will make we are already delivering on that promise to crack down on Tax Avoidance and tax evasion. Strengthening the powers of hmrc under the leadership of our Exchequer Secretary james Murray And Recruiting 5000 new offices, because this comet will not sit back and enjoy the minority who avoid paying the taxes that they owe but this government will not sit back and allow the minority who avoid paying the taxes that they owe. We will enact another manifesto commitment, because i know every parent has aspiration for their children, and i know that this rain that our State Schools have been under. This government will introduce vat on Private School Fees to invest in our State Schools. It is the fair choice, the response would choice, the Labour Choice to support the 94 of our children in our State Schools. That is the britain that we are building, Thatis Britain that we are building, that is the that i believe that is the that i believe thatis that is the that i believe that is the that i believe that is the britain that i believe in this budget will be a budget for economic growth. It will be a budget for investment, because today, we find ourselves at the very bottom of the G7 League Table for Economy Investment as a share of our gdp. We must change that. I believe in a better britain. A britain of opportunity, fairness and enterprise. I know that the country have sometimes felt far off in recent years as our growth, Productivity And Family finances for behind. But it does not have to be that way. The Bridges Capacity for inventiveness, enterprise and old fashioned Hard Work has not gone away so believe me when i say, optimism for Brittin Brown is brighter than ever. My ambition knows no limits because i can see the prize on offer if we make the right choices now. Stability is decrease your foundation on which all of our ambitions will be built. The Essential Precondition for business to invest in confidence and for families to plan for the future. The list Trust Experiment showed us that any plan for growth without stability leads to ruin. We will make the choice is necessary to secure our public finances and fixed the foundations for pop but lasting growth. Stability paired with informal 40 conditions for businesses to invest for consumers to spend with confidence. Whether it is a Challenge And Investment is the solution. Investment in new industries, new technologies, and new infrastructure. Let me put what we are doing into some perspective. The Uk Economy had grown just the average growth of other oecd economies under the tories, our economy would be £140 billion larger today. That would have provided an extra £58 billion to invest in our public services without raising a single Tax Rate by a single penny. Revenue to invest in our schools, hospitals and police and all our public services and that is not to be no bit of my ambitions. But the growth, will createjobs no bit of my ambitions. But the growth, will create jobs that pay enough to raise a family on for you and your children, put a real money in the pockets of Working People and wealth in all of our communities that flows into a vibrant high streets for them that is how we will make britain the best place to start and grow a business. Whatever back but whatever back when you come from, wet wherever you grow up. Things exported around the world were made here in britain. This is how we will achieve what we promise, the five men desperate measures that will comprise a jacket of national renewal. Matt the five measures that will comprise a decade of national renewal. That is the britain that we are building. That is a britain that i believe in. During the election campaign, i visited businesses all Over Britain from mud from historic brand seizing the opportunities from the feature to innovative started at the cutting edge, to high Street Business is breathing new life into their communities. Ourworld breathing new life into their communities. Our world leading universities, creative industries, life sciences, Tech Companies and professional services. I see immense potential wherever i go. But for every success story, there is potential how to back. Entrepreneurs struggling to access finance, high Street Businesses punished by our outdated system of business rates, businesses builders frustrated. Exploit is held back by Red Tape by feld brexits deal. Too many people out of work by chronic illness waiting for treatment. Without the skills, Training And Security they need to build their potential and their Welfare Set State that does not always incentivise a work. Brilliant young people shut out of the opportunities that they deserve and whole industries held back without any real strategy for their future. So we must learn the lessons of the tory� s failure, we must build growth in a changed world in this age of insecurity, grace requires it stability but not stability alone. It requires active governance and requires active governance and requires the contribution of people in every part of britain, notjust a few. Where there are vested interests, Outdated Practices or institution barriers obstructing reductive investment, we will confront them head on. The active government is called for, this government is called for, this government will act. Government is called for, this government willact. Under government will act. Under conference, government willact. Under conference, it is time that the treasury moved on from discarding the cost of investment to recognising the benefits too. So we are calling on calling time on ideas of the past, calling times of i did that how does back, turning a Blind Eye and on where things were made on who makes them. The era of Trickle Down, check out economics is over and so i can announce. Trickle down, trickle out economics is over. I can announce that next month, looks on our Business Secretary, we will establish our blood to a new industrial subsidy for britain. But we will establish our plans for a new industrial strategy for britain. A strategy for driving and shaping long Term Growth in our Manufacturing And Service sectors, a strategy to unlock investment, createjobs sectors, a strategy to unlock investment, create jobs and deliver prosperity, a strategy to help Break Down Barriers for regional growth, speed ahead for Net Zero by 2030 and build prosperity on strong and secure foundations. When i said this Labour Party is proudly pro business and proudly pro worker, i meant it. This mission for investment, for Growth Forjobs is why in a few weeks time, this government will be hosting a major international investment summit. This will bring together hundreds of Business Leaders to send a simple message that after years of instability and uncertainty, Britain Is Open For Business once again. This mission is why we will give power to our regional mayors and leaders, get people back to work and forge a closer relationship with our neighbours in the european union, while pursuing trade deals to open up new markets, too. It is why we launched a new national wealth fund. It is why Angela Rayner and i have wasted no time in ripping out the blockages in our Planning System so we can get Britain Building again. Within 72 hours of taking office we did more to