‘We must have growth — and that means working with business’

Eighty days ago, I walked out of 11 Downing Street for the first time as chancellor of the exchequer vowing to lead the most pro-growth Treasury in our country’s history. I did so because of a profound belief that the answers to the challenges our country faces lie in delivering a step-change in our economy.
We have had more than ten years of sluggish economic growth, low productivity and poor investment. Successive Conservative governments have failed to get a grip of the situation and, in fact, made it worse. It now falls on us, a new Labour government, to grasp the nettle and deliver on the promise of change that we were elected on.
That starts by delivering economic stability and getting a grip of the public finances. I make no apologies for being honest about the scale of the challenge we have inherited from our predecessors. The £22 billion black hole that the Conservative Party left in the public finances is the consequence of their mismanagement and disrespect for taxpayers. They spent money like there was no tomorrow because they knew someone else would have to pick up the bill. As always, it was party first, country second.
I will never do that. I will always put the national interest first because if we lose control of the public finances — as we saw with Liz Truss’s disastrous mini-budget — the damage to investor sentiment can be huge and it is the British people that are asked to pay more.
So the budget next month will be about fixing the foundations of our economy and delivering on our promise of economic stability. But we will be doing so with a clear purpose in mind: to rebuild a better Britain. I want to see a Britain where families have more money in their pockets, so they don’t have to worry about the weekly shop. I want to see an NHS that is once again there for you when you need it. And I want to see businesses around the world looking at Britain as the best place to invest. That is the prize that is on offer to us if we do the hard work now — and it is guiding every decision I make as chancellor.
None of this is possible without economic growth and I am clear that we cannot tax and spend our way to prosperity. That’s why my message to business is this: if growth is the challenge, then investment is the solution — and I want to work with you to deliver that. We ran as a pro-business party and we are governing as a pro-business party.
In our first few weeks, we have already started the work to break down the barriers to investment, including big reforms of our planning system so that we can get Britain building again. Our new National Wealth Fund will invest alongside business in the jobs, industries and infrastructure of the future. In a few weeks’ time we will hold our first big investment summit in London to send a signal to the world that, after years of instability and uncertainty, Britain is back and ready to do business.
And next year we will publish a new industrial strategy setting out high-growth sectors where we have real competitive advantage as a country. And, as I promised in opposition, all of this work to reduce the friction in our economy will be done in a true and equal partnership with business.
None of this will come easy. I would be doing a disservice to the British people if I did or said otherwise. However, I have never been more optimistic about our country’s fortunes. Britain lost confidence in the Conservative Party, but it has never lost confidence in itself. The prize on offer is immense. The future has never had so much potential. It now falls on all of us to seize it.
Rachel Reeves is the chancellor of the exchequer