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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“I thank the hon. Gentleman for that intervention. I think that we can tell from the debate today that different Members, representing different areas of Britain, have different views about their RDAs. I plead with the Minister. Labour Members representing Yorkshire, the north-east and the west midlands have spoken with huge passion about their RDAs. They have related the stories that they hear day in, day out from businesses and the people they represent. Let us keep our RDAs and let them continue to do the work that they are doing in our regions. That is all that I ask.”
“That will not happen by chance; it depends on a strategic Government policy supporting industry in all our regions.”
“They cite the G20 advice about reducing deficits while consistently forgetting about or ignoring the advice in the G20 communiqué for “credible, growth-friendly measures, to deliver fiscal sustainability”. That omission on growth is worrying from the perspective of industry and jobs—the subject of today’s debate—because the greatest risk we face is that of a double-dip recession, with the job losses, business failures and higher budget deficits that that would bring. On Monday, the Chancellor dismissed the possibility of a second recession, but businesses in my constituency are less certain that we are out of the woods. Key to the recovery and to bringing down the budget deficit—we hear a lot about that from Conservative Members—are growth and having a regionally strong and diverse economy.”
“Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I am sorry for my enthusiasm. I welcome the clarification from the hon. Member for West Suffolk that regions will be able to make their own decisions, but that was not my understanding of what the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills said earlier. [I nterruption.] If he did say that, I think that everyone on the Opposition Benches would welcome that. If our regions will be able to make the decisions about our regional development agencies and their future, I welcome that. I am grateful for that clarification, but that was not my understanding of what the Business Secretary said in his statement. I know that Conservative Members will disagree with this, but I am sorry to say that we do not hear enough from them about growth.”
“The Yorkshire Evening Post today revealed that the proposed cuts to Yorkshire Forward mean that no fewer than 109 projects will see their support slashed and that that will affect 24,160 separate companies our region. Some £1 million that would have been used to help small and medium-sized enterprises to access finance is to be cut. Some £1.4 million that would have helped businesses and universities with research and development is to be cut. Some £2.4 million that would have been spent on Tower Works in Leeds to support the digital and creative industries in my city is to be scrapped.”
“From wool to coal and steel, and to retail and finance, our industries have enriched the region—more than that, jobs and industry in Leeds and Yorkshire have helped to power the UK economy. The true test of this Government’s strategy and their woolly words about local economic partnerships will be whether they can give local people and businesses a true sense of control over their economic future. That is what Yorkshire Forward and other RDAs have been doing; they have been promoting enterprise and driving economic growth across Britain. We now know—I am reading what I wrote before the intervention by the hon. Member for West Suffolk—that the RDAs are to be scrapped. Or are they? That wind-down has already started in Yorkshire.”
“I thank the hon. Gentleman for that intervention. What he describes perhaps comes up less in my constituency than in some others, because average earnings in my constituency are £16,000 a year and the national insurance increase proposed by the previous Labour Government was to apply only to wages of more than £20,000 a year. So that was less of a concern in my constituency. Britain is the sixth largest manufacturer in the world. If one believed some of the statements made by those on the Government Benches, one would think that the UK did not have a manufacturing industry at all—that is not the case. People in Yorkshire have huge pride in our industrial past.”
“I shall give way once I have finished citing these examples. Some £3.2 million that would have supported the roll-out of broadband and £2.5 million that would have helped people at risk of redundancy to get back to work are to be cut. I could continue on this, but I shall give way.”
“The hon. Lady makes an important intervention, because cuts were already proposed. The hon. Member for West Suffolk asked whether Labour had any plans to reduce Government spending. I can tell him that it had, and this is one example of them. But this is in response to the—”
“Without Yorkshire Forward, we would not have brought clean coal to our region and the 1,000 jobs that that means in South Yorkshire. Without Yorkshire Forward, we would not have negotiated a deal with Siemens and GE to bring offshore wind, with thousands of much-needed jobs, to Hull, Grimsby and Scunthorpe.”
“Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. This Government—the party of the hon. Member for West Worcestershire (Harriett Baldwin)—have called for £293 million of cuts from the regional development agencies. Yorkshire Forward was asked to make £44 million of cuts. It was written to and asked to come back with those cuts within two weeks—it had two weeks to determine cuts that will affect 24,000 businesses in my region. These are not Labour cuts; they are Conservative cuts. I ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills to give my constituents some commitment and some hope and certainty that the work that Yorkshire Forward does to support innovation, manufacturing, jobs and skills will continue. I urge the Government not to destroy the support for jobs and growth that the Labour Government put in place.”
“The reason that I talk so passionately today about regional development agencies is that they are what the Government intend to cut. The regional development agencies do not create jobs. I recognise that, and I believe that all Labour Members recognise it. Siemens and GE will bring those jobs, but they could bring the jobs to anywhere in Europe and anywhere in the world. It is the work of the regional development agencies with businesses, on skills and with people in my region that means that those jobs are coming to Yorkshire. That is why I and other Members on this side of the House speak with such passion about the work that the regional development agencies do.”
“The support is critical and it is good for all of Britain. The short-term hatchet job pursued by the Government risks the recovery and will put Britain in the slow lane of the global economy, making reducing the deficit harder because there will be higher unemployment and tax revenues will be weaker. Growth is the essential ingredient that is missing from the Government’s strategy. Now is the time for some more ambition. In the wake of the recession, we can build a fairer, stronger and more diverse economy, built on skills and high-end manufacturing, if the Government put in place the policies—”
“I thank the hon. Gentleman for that intervention. I hope that I have made it clear that I support the private sector’s coming to our region and bringing jobs with it. However, that requires a Government on the side of our communities and of businesses. That means encouraging jobs to come to this country when they could go to any other country in the world. If we were in Germany or China, we would be urging jobs to come to those countries. If we want a level playing field, we need a Government who support industry. In Yorkshire, we look to Government for support—to honour the commitments on high-speed rail and on Sheffield Forgemasters. They are key to Yorkshire’s future and good for the British economy, too. Yorkshire Forward and regional development agencies have fought our corner in a way that Whitehall simply cannot.”
“I welcome the establishment of the Office for Budget Responsibility and the increased transparency that it brings. However, the point that today’s document makes most clearly is that the economic recovery is still fragile. The Chancellor makes interesting points about the structural deficit, but does he agree that the structural deficit depends also on the level of economic growth? What are he and his Government doing to lift the economic growth rate, when there is so little about, given that the future jobs fund, the regional development agencies, and support for industry and universities are all being scrapped?”
“Does the shadow Chancellor agree with this statement by the Governor of the Bank of England: “I don’t think you can compare the UK with Greece. There are big differences”? I suggest that not the least of the differences between our countries is that our debt-to-GDP ratio is about half that of Greece.”
“John Battle showed us that politics can make a difference and that the right values and policies can transform people’s lives. Today more than ever, we need the ambition for justice, equality and fairness that drove John. It is a real honour to serve as the Member of Parliament for Leeds West and, in doing my duty to my constituents, I will act with the hopes, dreams and aspirations of Leeds West as my guide.”
“The Chancellor of the Exchequer is reducing industrial support for businesses and universities, watering down the regional development agencies and abolishing the support that Labour introduced to get young people back to work. If the Government really are serious about ensuring the recovery, they must put in place policies for jobs and growth. We know that the causes of this crisis are global, but the pathways out must be local and regional, so I will fight for Leeds West with determination, and I will do so in a responsible way. It would not be responsible or sensible to oppose every spending cut or tax increase. I will encourage this Government when they get it right and acknowledge that, but when they get it wrong and put the economic future of my constituents and the country at risk, I will hold them to account.”
“The new Government are right to make the budget deficit a priority, but that must not be at the expense of the recovery that Labour has secured. I started my career as an economist at the Bank of England and focused on Japan at a time when its economy had been in and out of recession for a decade. Today, debt in Japan is 190% of gross domestic product, which is 2.5 times the level in the UK. Japan’s debt is so high precisely because its Government did not take swift action to ensure that its economy emerged from recession with strong growth. I urge this Government to learn those lessons from history, because the very worst thing for Leeds West and for Britain would be another recession caused by hasty and unfair spending cuts. I fear that the Government are making those mistakes and putting the recovery at risk.”
“The future jobs fund helped more than 8,000 young people in Yorkshire to get back to work during these challenging economic times and, under Labour, a generation of young people were not condemned to the scrapheap as happened in the recessions of the 1980s and 1990s. However, the economic recovery is fragile and cannot be taken for granted. We need the passion, enterprise and determination that built the Leeds economy of the past to build the economy of the future. For that to happen, the people of Leeds will look to the Government to be on their side and build a future for Leeds based on high skills, new technologies and new industries, with better transport links—including high-speed rail—and a banking sector that supports industry and small businesses, rather than just being out to make a quick profit.”
“In his maiden speech in 1987, John Battle spoke of his visit to the Bramley jobcentre. Back then, there were just six jobs on offer in the window, with wages ranging from £2 to £2.28 an hour. No parents can bring up a family on £2—not in 1987 and not on today’s equivalent—and no one should be made to work all hours of the day and night and yet remain in poverty. It was that belief and sense of justice and fairness that brought the national minimum wage—one of Labour’s proudest achievements—to the statute book. Throughout the recession, Labour has not abandoned its commitment to social justice.”
“It was my own experience of education under the Conservative Governments of the 1980s and 1990s that motivated me to get involved in politics. When I was at school, there were never enough textbooks to go round. There was no money for new school buildings, so our sixth form was a prefab hut in the playground and our library was turned into a classroom. It is therefore with immense pride that I tell the House that my old secondary school is now a specialist college with two new, modern buildings. Such investment has been seen up and down the country, in all our constituencies. In Leeds West, every single primary school has been rebuilt or refurbished since 1997. In September last year, the new Leeds West academy and Swallow Hill community college opened their doors—proud achievements, transforming lives and communities.”
“From my home in Hawksworth Wood, people used to be able to hear the hum of the Kirkstall Forge Engineering plant at work. The forge, originally set up by the monks of Kirkstall abbey, continued in operation until 2002. The industrial revolution transformed Leeds, as well. The Leeds-Liverpool canal brought to our city wool spun at the mills that still stand tall in Kirkstall, Armley, Bramley and Rodley. Of course, Leeds was the birthplace of Montague Burton and of Marks and Spencer—a proud industrial, and retail, heritage. The economy was transformed once again under the previous Labour Government. The city centre is now packed with new businesses, shops, museums and galleries. More than all that, however, under Labour every single person—most of all, every young person—has been given opportunities to recognise and fulfil their potential.”
“It is those, and John’s many other achievements—I have mentioned only a handful—that are his legacy. At a constituency surgery recently, a lady took my hand and said that as long as I was half as good as John Battle, she would be happy. I later received a letter from a constituent who asked that I only be a quarter as good. I hope to exceed both their expectations, but I know that in John Battle I have a fantastic role model and a very tough act to follow. I will fight tirelessly for my constituents to be the champion for local people that John was before me. Most of all, I will fight for jobs, growth and prosperity—the subject of our debate today. Leeds has a proud economic heritage. Leeds West was built on engineering and on textiles.”
“I would like to thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to make my maiden speech. It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Rugby (Mark Pawsey) and other new Members of this House, who have done their constituencies proud today. It is a huge privilege to have been elected as the Member of Parliament for Leeds West and to succeed John Battle, who represented us here for 23 years. John’s work for Leeds West touched the lives of so many people: fighting for, and getting, compensation for the victims of asbestos poisoning in Armley; supporting the Kirkstall festival in the grounds of our beautiful 12th-century abbey; and working with West Leeds debt forum and Bramley Credit Union to drive loan sharks out of our community.”
“One thing that was mentioned in the Queen’s Speech was high-speed rail. Will the right hon. Gentleman please give us a commitment on the date on which high-speed rail investment will begin? Will it begin in 2012, and will high-speed rail come to Leeds? The Labour Government made both those commitments in the last Parliament.”
“Will my right hon. Friend confirm that Greece’s debt is 110% of its gross domestic product? That is twice as high a ratio of debt to GDP as that in the UK. That, and not the budget deficit, is the important point with regard to sustainability. The budget deficits of Greece and the UK are comparable, but in terms of sustainability, the issue is the level of debt. As the UK’s debt is half the level of Greece’s, those comparisons are scaremongering excuses for policies that the Conservatives always wanted to pursue.”