Rachel Reeves
MP for Leeds West and Pudsey · Labour · United Kingdom
“I thank my hon. Friend for his question and his work on the Treasury Committee. On pensions reform, through the Mansion House accord and Sterling 20, we have got pension funds to commit to investing more in British businesses, both through British venture schemes and in British infrastructure.”
“I thank my hon. Friend for her question. As Members will know, this Government are working on plans with our NATO allies for a multilateral defence mechanism. We have already signed a treaty agreement with Finland and the Netherlands, and we are working closely with Scandinavian, Baltic and eastern European countries.”
“At a time of great global uncertainty, it is more important than ever that we deepen ties with our closest allies and biggest trading partners, whose values we share, and whose interests are bound to ours.”
“Today the Government have responded to the covid counter-fraud commissioner’s recommendations in a report that I commissioned, which confirms that the Conservative Government left the door open to more than £10 billion of pandemic fraud.”
“As I just said, the DIP will be published before the summit. It will involve more money spent more effectively, and it will meet the scale of the challenges we face. Frankly, I will take no lectures from the Conservatives, who left our armed forces, in the words of their former Defence Secretary, “hollowed out”.”
“I thank my hon. Friend for bringing the story of Darren and Nicole to this House. I hope that they and their children will benefit from the change I made to the two-child limit for universal credit, as well as from the rolling out of free breakfast clubs to all primary schools, and the introduction of free school meals for all children wh…”
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“The only person that carpet bombed our economy was Liz Truss and the Conservative party. The hon. Gentleman supported Liz Truss in leadership contest and throughout her time—”
“He says he did not, but he served in her Cabinet, so I will take no lectures from Conservative Members. The country will have heard what the Leader of the Opposition said today: she was talking down our economy in a desperate attempt to get attention. The truth is, as Members on the Opposition Benches know, that that is not serious and it is irresponsible. The only thing in Britain that needs a bail-out is the Tory party—from its failed leadership.”
“In the spending review, we put significant money into building more houses as part of our commitment to build 1.5 million homes during the course of this Parliament. The Planning and Infrastructure Bill is currently making its way through the House of Lords, but more than 600 amendments have been tabled to it, mainly by peers from Opposition parties. The Labour party and this Government back the builders, whereas the Opposition parties back the blockers. They are stopping young people getting on the housing ladder, stopping renewable energy being built and stopping the transport infrastructure that we desperately need to be built. Instead of opposing and tabling amendments, the Opposition parties should back that Bill so that we can get Britain building.”
“I thank my hon. Friend for everything that he is doing to champion Ilford South and to bring more investment into his local community. It is great to have Labour councils working with a Labour Government to bring investment to local communities through housing and, crucially, through infrastructure—the schools and the doctors’ surgeries—that go alongside that new housing, so that we build not just homes but communities.”
“Over the summer, I had the opportunity to spend some time in Belfast, where I visited Thales, the defence manufacturer, and Studio Ulster, where I saw some of the fantastic work in the creative industries. I also had the opportunity to talk about some of the blockers to growth. We need to better reform our planning system, not just in England but in Northern Ireland and Scotland as well, so that we can get things built in Britain again. People are crying out for hope. Growth offers hope and investment offers hope, and that is what this Government offer too.”
“Just this September, new construction colleges have started opening around the country to train up the next generation of builders, plumbers and engineers, so that we can build both the housing infrastructure and the other infrastructure our country desperately needs. We have reformed the apprenticeship system, so that we can have more foundation apprenticeships for a shorter period of time to quickly get people the skills they need. Not requiring people to have a grade C or equivalent in maths and English to access an apprenticeship programme is also so important for young children who maybe did not get the grades they wanted in their GCSEs, but deserve a chance of a good apprenticeship and a job offering a decent wage.”
“That cannot be an excuse, though, for blocking developments and blocking people who own land from building more homes on that land. In the end, the simple law of supply and demand means that if we are not building homes, prices will continue to be unaffordable for the hon. Gentleman’s constituents. We are not allowing builders to build carte blanche and he absolutely knows that. We put the biggest investment into the affordable homes programme that has ever been seen, because it is important that the homes being built are affordable for families in his constituency and in mine. We must not just always block things, whether they be airports, housing or other infrastructure; we have got to back the builders.”
“Friend the Member for Ashton-under-Lyne (Angela Rayner), for the amazing work she did to get housing on the agenda to build the 1.5 million homes that this country desperately needs, and for being an inspiration for so many people from working-class backgrounds. I applaud her efforts and her work.”
“I think Opposition Members will recognise that building companies have strongly welcomed the reforms we have made to get the country building, and they are very much against the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats and others in the House of Lords opposing the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, which could have been given Royal Assent by now without that opposition. Instead of scaremongering about something that is being consulted on, the shadow Minister might want to get on and back the positive things that the Government are doing. Finally, I pay tribute to the former Deputy Prime Minister, my right hon.”
“Sorry, Mr Speaker, bear with me. [ Laughter. ] This Government are committed to growing the economy, and we were the fastest-growing economy in the G7 in the first half of this year. We have done three trade deals and cut interest rates five times—and I did not even need my notes to remember all that.”
“In the Budget last year, we got rid of the non-dom tax status, we put up capital gains tax, we started treating carried interest as income—not as capital gains—we introduced new taxes on private jets, we put VAT and business rates on private school fees and, of course, we changed the rules around agricultural property relief so that people who have farms worth more than £3 million will pay inheritance tax, although at half the rate that everybody else does. We took a number of measures last year to ensure that the wealthy pay their fair share. Some countries around the world do have a wealth tax, but countries like Switzerland, for example, do not have inheritance tax. I think it would be a mistake to get rid of inheritance tax and replace it with an unproven tax without knowing what revenue it would bring in.”
“While the Leader of the Opposition is talking down the British economy, we are setting our sights on growing the economy and making working people better off. No, we will not be taking any advice from the Leader of the Opposition, who was part of a Government who crashed the economy, sending mortgage rates spiralling and putting pensions in peril.”
“In the Universal Credit Act 2025, which passed before the summer recess, we reformed the universal credit system to reduce the gap between what people on the health element and those on the standard element got. That reform will help more people into work, as well as the £1 billion package of measures to help people—particularly those who have been long-term unemployed—get back to work. [ Interruption. ] The hon. Member for North West Norfolk (James Wild) says that that is spending. Actually, getting people into work and paying taxes, as well as paying less on benefits, is good for the economy and good for those people who get back into work.”
“I thank my hon. Friend for the work that she is doing to help grow the economy in all parts of the country, including Kent and Sussex. The Government have made significant commitments on the expansion of international rail services, and we are working closely with the German and Swiss Governments on direct links between our countries. Work is under way to understand the prospects for expansion of the number of services on the channel tunnel rail link. I absolutely agree that new opportunities at Ashford and Ebbsfleet have huge potential to help grow the economy, giving more opportunities for people in those communities to access good jobs and other leisure opportunities.”
“I absolutely recognise that businesses face challenges, but they also have lower borrowing costs because of the five cuts in interest rates, which the Bank of England was able to make because of the stability that we have returned to the economy. It would be good to have a bit more honesty from political parties. If they oppose the national insurance increase, then they oppose the extra money for the national health service. If they stood up and said that, they might get a little more respect and credibility.”
“My hon. Friend is a proud advocate for his constituents in Macclesfield and is doing great work to bring more investment into the local area. Life sciences is one of the eight sectors that this Government, as part of our modern industrial strategy, are championing. That is why we put record investment into research and development in the spending review earlier this year, and why we are supporting our universities to help create more spinouts to ensure that we can have more home-grown British businesses, as well as backing the big businesses, such as AstraZeneca, that operate in his constituency.”
“There is a consultation going on and I welcome the hon. Gentleman and others feeding into that. However, if he is serious about backing the builders and not the blockers, why do the Liberal Democrats fail to support the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, both here and in the other House?”
“The Government are committed to ensuring that there are fewer sick and disabled people in poverty by helping them into work and getting them off NHS waiting lists. That is why at the spring statement we announced the largest investment in employment support in at least a generation. The Government have already taken action to tackle poverty, including with the fair repayment rate, which lowers the cap on deductions in universal credit, and we have increased the national living wage by 6.7%. Beyond that, we are investing to reduce poverty by expanding free school meals and investing in a £1 billion settlement for crisis support. We will set out our child poverty strategy in the autumn. We have invested £29 billion in reducing NHS waiting lists, and since we took office there are 385,000 more people in work.”
“My hon. Friend will know that nobody currently receiving personal independence payments will see any reduction in the support they get. In terms of supporting women into work, recognising some of the intersectionalities she mentioned, the Government have increased the national living wage by 6.7%—sadly, it is still too often women who are paid the lowest wages—and our Employment Rights Bill will offer more security and dignity in work. We are also rolling out more childcare, including new nurseries at primary schools, and my right hon. Friend the Business and Trade Secretary will today make a statement announcing the launch of a review of parental leave, which could benefit all working parents, but particularly mums.”
“In the spending review, we invested an additional £29 billion every year for day-to-day spending in the national health service, as well as a record uplift in capital spending in the NHS so that there is more money for the equipment to do that vital work, including in cancer treatments, which the hon. Gentleman mentioned. In our first year in office we have delivered 4 million additional appointments in the NHS and reduced waiting lists by 250,000. That is only possible because of the decisions we took in the Budget last year—those included increasing taxes on non-doms, as well as the increase in national insurance contributions—which have gone into funding our national health service.”
“That is a really important point. Our Prime Minister is absolutely committed to early intervention to stop the costs of crisis emerging later on. Later this week, on the anniversary of Labour’s creation of the health service, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care will publish the 10-year health plan, which will focus on ensuring that young people especially, and particularly those in some of our most deprived communities, are not let down and have a healthy start in life. Across the whole of Government, we are determined to achieve that.”
“This Government changed the fiscal rules at the Budget last year with a stability rule, so that for the first time we pay for day-to-day spending through tax receipts, and an investment rule, which enables us to invest in the things that will help grow the economy, such as energy infrastructure, defence spending and transport and digital infrastructure. As a result, in the Budget and then in this year’s spring statement, we unlocked £300 billion more to spend during the course of this Parliament, including the record settlement for the Scottish Government. It is now up to the Scottish Government to spend that money wisely and to try to reduce waiting lists in Scotland, as we have done in England and, indeed, in Wales.”
“It was the hon. Member’s Government, when they were on this side of the House, who froze those allowances, taking more money out of the pockets of working people. Despite that, they left a £22 billion black hole in the public finances. I will take no lessons from Conservative party, which has opposed everything that is needed to invest in our public services. We are in the mess we are in because of the damage that it caused.”
“The Government recognise the critical contribution that transport makes to our growth mission. The Government increased the capital envelope by over £100 billion at the autumn Budget last year, and by a further £13 billion at the spring statement. Taken together, that represents a big increase in capital investment. As a result, the transport capital budget, excluding High Speed 2, will increase by 1.9% per year in real terms over the spending review period. That investment will improve connectivity in our towns, cities and villages, reduce journey times and increase transport reliability. For areas of transport that are devolved, it is up to the Scottish and Welsh Governments to allocate their funding and be accountable to their respective Parliaments for those decisions.”
“It was a pleasure to be in Cardiff just after the spending review to look at the difference made by the investment that the Labour Government are putting into transport in Wales. The spending review and the infrastructure strategy recognised Wales’s long-term infrastructure needs and how they have been neglected for too long by the Tory party. We delivered at least £445 million for rail enhancements, which provides funding for continuing to develop and deliver the stations identified in the Burns review, including Newport West and Somerton. Plans for future rail investment in Wales will be made in close consultation with the Welsh Government and through engagement with the Wales Rail Board.”
“It is important that, as this Government put more money into infrastructure, including transport, it benefits companies and jobs here in Britain. It is not right the Scottish Government spend more on buses made in China than on buses made in Scotland. There is nothing preventing the Scottish National party from investing in jobs and growth in Scotland.”
“I really welcome the fact that the right hon. Gentleman supports the investment that this Labour Government are making in transport and infrastructure after the 14 of years neglect by his party. We have increased transport spending by 1.9% per year in real terms in every year of this spending review period, benefiting all parts of the country, including Yorkshire, where both he and I have the honour and privilege of being Members of Parliament.”
“The irony is that the last Government made a lot of commitments but did not put any money into delivering them. That is the difference that this Government are making, with fully funded plans to upgrade transport. The Department for Transport now has its settlement and it will look at a number of projects. The mess left by the Conservatives is something we have had to sort out. The Conservatives have not backed any of the measures that we have taken to bring in more revenue, yet, as we have seen, they are very keen on spending the money. That is why we were left with a £22 billion black hole when we came into office a year ago.”
“The Government protected the smallest businesses from changes to national insurance by increasing the employment allowance from £5,000 to £10,500. That means that this year 865,000 employers will pay no national insurance contributions at all, and more than half will either gain or see no change to their national insurance contributions.”
“It is a bit rich for anyone in the Conservative party to mention black holes, after the one that they left for us to clear up. The hon. Gentleman will have seen the Lloyds business barometer, which has recently been published and shows that business confidence is now at a nine-year high, led by increases in confidence in retail and manufacturing. That report referenced the impact of the spending review on boosting business confidence—a recognition that this Government are backing Britain and backing Britain’s businesses.”
“The stability that this Government have returned to the economy has meant that the Bank of England has been able to cut interest rates four times in the last year, taking hundreds of pounds off people’s mortgages—there was such a big impact in that regard under the last Government. The reasons for the increase in business confidence also include the industrial strategy publication, the spending review and the three trade deals, all of which are boosting business confidence and have helped to create 385,000 new jobs in Britain since the last general election.”
“I am not going to take lessons from the Conservatives: they increased taxes 25 times. When they increased taxes, it was always ordinary working people who paid the price. In our Budget last year, we protected the payslips of ordinary working people by not increasing their income tax, their national insurance or their VAT, and we did not go ahead with the increase in fuel duty that the Conservatives had planned. Instead of talking down the British economy, why do the Conservatives not back the plans that are backed by British businesses to grow our economy and make working people better off?”
“That is possible only because of the rise in national insurance increase on business, which the Liberal Democrats opposed—and yet that is how we are funding our NHS.”
“As the hon. Lady knows, the changes we have made to the welfare Bill will mean that nobody who is currently receiving personal independence payments will have a cut, so I just do not think the premise of her question is correct. When we debate the welfare Bill today, we will be voting for the biggest increase in the universal credit standard allowance for a generation and protecting those people with the most severe conditions from having to be reassessed for their condition, which is degrading. We have got rid of the Tories’ work capability assessment changes, which the courts said were illegal, and we are putting £1 billion into back-to-work support. At the same time, we are investing £29 billion in the NHS.”
“The Government are delivering on the priorities of the British people. Yesterday, the Office for National Statistics confirmed that the UK was the fastest-growing G7 nation in the first quarter of this year. Since the election, this Labour Government have brought £120 billion of private investment into our economy. There have been four interest rate cuts, lowering the cost of mortgages, and 384,000 new jobs—more than 1,000 jobs a day—since this Government were elected. Real wages increased more in the first 10 months of this Labour Government than they did in the first 10 years of the last Conservative Government, and we have a £1,400 pay rise for a full-time worker on the national living wage. That is the difference that this Government are making after 14 years of mismanagement by the Conservatives.”
“This Government increased the employment allowance from £5,000 to £10,500, and that means 865,000 employers will pay no national insurance at all. Indeed, half of employers will either gain or see no change. It was also welcome that the Lloyds business barometer showed business confidence at a nine-year high, with a particular uptick in retail. I cannot comment on an individual business, but that is the system nationwide.”
“I would take that a bit more seriously if the Conservatives were not voting against the welfare reforms this evening, and if they had not committed to fully reversing the winter fuel changes, which would cost a further £400 million that they cannot explain. I am always grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for his questions, because he always offers a useful lesson in what not to do. Even George Osborne now says that the shadow Chancellor has “no credible economic plan”. I will give the shadow Chancellor this: he knows a thing or two about welfare spending, because under his watch, the UK became the only country in the G7 with an unemployment rate stuck below pre-pandemic levels. Under his watch, the cost of working-age inactivity rose by £15.7 billion a year.”
“We made a commitment in our manifesto not to increase the key taxes that working people pay, and we stick by those commitments because, unlike the Conservative party, we stick by our manifesto.”
“The hon. Lady, and other Members, will have seen the reference in the spending review to a real-terms uplift in schools spending in every single year of the current Parliament, as well as additional capital investment to help rebuild the schools whose roofs were literally crumbling under the last Conservative Government. My right hon. Friend the Education Secretary will publish a Green Paper on SEND reform in the autumn, and we have extended local authorities’ statutory override for SEND education for a further two years while we bring in those reforms. This Government want to ensure that mainstream schools are more inclusive for all children.”
“As my hon. Friend will know, in last year’s Budget we got rid of the non-dom tax status, increased capital gains tax, put VAT on private school fees and ended the loophole for private equity, as well as introducing further measures, in order to raise £40 billion. As a result, we are investing £300 billion more than would have been raised under the plans that we inherited from the Conservative party. Ours is the only country where—”
“We are increasing transport investment by 1.9% in real terms after HS2 in every year of the spending review period. We are also extending the bus fare cap, which is particularly beneficial to rural areas.”
“I am sure that the relevant Health Minister would be happy to meet representatives of the hospice. The Health Secretary set out the settlement for hospices at the end of last year to compensate financially for the increases in national insurance, but those increases in national insurance are funding the NHS, which helps fund our hospices.”
“The problem with the Conservatives is that they support all the funding, but they do not support any of the ways of funding it. Agricultural property relief means that estates worth more than £3 million will now be taxed at half the rate at which inheritance tax is usually charged. That can be repaid over a 10-year period, interest-free. I think that is the right and fair settlement, given the fiscal environment we face.”
“I thank my hon. Friend for that question. We are proud as a Government to back Rolls-Royce, and to have it as our preferred provider for the small modular reactor programme, resulting in lower bills and more good jobs, particularly in Derbyshire.”
“In the Budget last year, we increased taxes by £40 billion, but without affecting the pay packets of ordinary working people. We did not increase their national insurance, their income tax or their VAT, and we did not go ahead with the wrong-headed increase in fuel duty that was put in place by the Conservative party. We are protecting working people; the Conservative party picked their pockets time and again.”
“I thank my hon. Friend for that question. He will know that this Government have already invested through the National Wealth Fund in the tin mine in his constituency, bringing good-quality jobs paying decent wages to the people of Cornwall, as advocated by Cornish MPs. However, there is more we can do through the National Wealth Fund, including investing in our ports, which is absolutely vital for clean, cheap energy and for creating good jobs in this country, including in Cornwall.”
“Let us look at the record so far. There are 385,000 more jobs in the UK economy today than there were when Labour came to office a year ago, which is more than 1,000 jobs a day. So businesses are voting with their feet and taking on more workers, because of the policies of this Labour Government compared with the Tory policies that took our economy down.”
“Yes, I can absolutely give my assurance to Jackie, and to other people who are currently claiming PIP, that they will see absolutely no change in their entitlement. That is what my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions announced to the Chamber yesterday: everybody who is currently on those benefits will see no change whatever. The Timms review, which will be co-produced with disabled people and those who represent them, will build a new system for the future.”
“It was great to be with my hon. Friend in Warwickshire just a couple of weeks ago to welcome some of the investment, through our industrial strategy and our spending review, which will turbocharge the British economy, creating more good jobs and paying decent wages in all parts of the country, including in Warwickshire.”
“At the spending review, we were able to build on the investment we had already made in Merseyside and Teesside with Track-1 of carbon capture and storage, and put investment into both the Acorn project in Scotland and Viking CCS in the Humber to support the Government’s ambitions for Britain to lead the way in carbon capture and storage, creating more good jobs in all parts of the country, including in Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes.”