Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s announcement of billions of pounds for transport networks outside of London aims to shift the narrative away from spending cuts and tell a new story
After a drumbeat of gloomy stories about spending cuts, today Rachel Reeves sought to change the tune.
Her story is of a Labour government pouring billions of pounds into towns and cities outside London, making it easier for ordinary Brits to get good jobs, afford their own homes and start businesses.
At a bus factory in Rochdale, she began to sketch this out with a £15.6billion package to overhaul creaking transport systems in the North and Midlands, improving people’s daily lives, and attracting investment and jobs.
There will be more details to come in next week’s Spending Review but today’s announcement was a statement of intent.
It was a message to voters still unsure of Labour’s vision for Britain and ground down by years of broken promises.
But it was also a message to Labour MPs and ministers. She fired off a warning to Cabinet ministers still battling for more cash from the Treasury for their departments, saying they won’t “get everything they want”.
And she insisted her strict fiscal rules were non-negotiable in a blow to MPs who have urged her to change course.
Next week’s Spending Review is going to be difficult, with cuts looming for unprotected departments like the Home Office and the Ministry of Housing to plug the gap after major cash boosts for health and defence.
So Ms Reeves is offering them something else. Spades in the ground and cranes in the sky can help MPs to face down Nigel Farage’s Reform, who are on the march in Labour’s heartlands, capitalising on voter mistrust.
Mr Farage looms large over politics at the moment – but this isn’t all about him (despite what he might say).
The Chancellor, who is a Leeds MP, has long wanted to rip up the rules holding back an investment boom in the North and the Midlands, and to show Labour is delivering for the voters that put them in power.
It’s not just about Reform, it’s about years of Tory austerity and broken promises.
There are two problems. First, long term investment may not offer the sugar hit that voters want. And the second is that people have been made these promises before.
Brexiteers said leaving the EU would help left behind parts of Britain but nearly 10 years on, Brits are still waiting to feel the benefits.
Boris Johnson said he would level up the country but never delivered on it.
Rishi Sunak made the same commitment but his levelling up agenda was beset by delays and claims that cash for the North was being diverted South.
His decision to announce he was axing the northern leg of HS2 from Birmingham to Manchester… in Manchester, was a particular low point.
Reeves acknowledged that trust is low and she said she knows “people aren’t feeling benefits” yet from a Labour Government.
But she is hoping that she can tell a compelling story about how Labour will change Britain – and deliver where the Tories failed.