Reeves says, after years of Tory chaos, ‘stability is change’
Reeves says Labour has a vision for the country. Stability will be change, she argues.
I know â warm words are not enough. I do not underestimate the challenges we face. But I am so ambitious for our country. I know the huge potential found all across Britain and the constraints that are holding that potential back are not immutable forces.
They require vision, courage, and responsible government. Vision â to pursue a different approach, drawing on new economic thinking shaping governments in Europe, America and around the world â but which this Conservative government resists.
Courage â to put the public interest before short-term party politics, and take on vested interests.
And responsible government â offering stability of direction in a fast-changing world.
Because after years of political chaos and short-term thinking at this election: stability is change.
This is a clever response to the argument, while voters want change, Labour is not really offering it, because it is too committed to fiscal restraint.
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Key events
Libby Brooks
Humza Yousaf is expected to formally offer his resignation to the king this morning after John Swinney was elected unopposed as the new leader of the SNP yesterday.
Swinney will now seek the backing of MSPs later this afternoon to become the new first minister. The Scottish Conservatives and Scottish Labour have said they will vote against him but the Greens wonât oppose his appointment so Swinney is expected to become the fourth SNP first minister later this afternoon.
He faces multiple challenges: uniting his party, governing from a minority position and heading off a resurgent Scottish Labour which is forecast to win a significant number of seats from the SNP at the general election.
Q: If you are opposed to getting rid of national insurance, why does Labour keep voting in favour of the government plans to reduce national insurance?
Reeves says there is a difference between the plans Labour did support, which were audited by the Office for Budget Responsibility, and the plan to abolish all employeesâ national insurance contributions, which have not been assessed by the OBR.
And thatâs the end of the press conference.
I will post a summary soon.
Q: Are you worried about Muslim voters turning away from Labour?
Reeves says she recognises that some people did not vote Labour last week because of their concerns about the partyâs stance on Gaza. She says Labour must work to regain their trust.
Reeves says confirms workers could choose to stay on zero hours contracts on Labour’s plan to ban ‘exploitative’ ones
Q: Union leaders are warning against watering down the new deal for working people. Can you commit to doing that in the first 100 days, and ending zero hours contracts.
Reeves says the government will legislate in its first 100 days, including on ending âexploitative zero hours contractsâ.
Q: What is your message to business people who are concerned about these plans?
Reeves says many businesses go well beyond what is set out in Labourâs plans.
They donât have zero hour contracts. Theyâre not using practices of fire and rehire. They give better rights around sick pay, for example. And so businesses have got nothing to fear from the new deal for working people.
She says, after 12 weeks, Labour would allow people with regular hours not to have a zero hours contract. But she says, if people want to stay on a zero hours contract, they could do so.
Q: Would you put more funding into the welfare system? There is an argument that more help is needed to get people back to work.
Reeves says she will not make an unfunded spending commitment. But people who can work should work. She says tackling NHS waiting lists would help. And Labour has a plan to cut waiting lists, she says.
Q: Are you considering unfreezing tax thresholds?
Reeves says she has said she would like taxes on working people to be lower. But she wonât make unfunded tax commitments, because that is the route to âeconomic ruinâ.
Labour will not follow the Tories in making an unfunded promise to cut taxes by £46bn, she says.
Q: Should the Office for Budget Responsibility get more power or less power?
Reeves says she would respect economic instutions like the OBR. She says the Liz Truss experience showed what happened when the OBR is sidelined.
Q: What is you response to the MoD data hack?
Reeves says this is âdeeply concerningâ. She says the government has questions to answer, and says it should do so in a statement today.
On China, she says there are areas where the UK needs to work with China, but on national security issues the government should take a âhard lineâ.
Q: Do you think economic data is no longer the best way to judge economic recovery, and that how people feel matters more?
Reeves says she loves economic data. But she says politicians have to take account of how people are feeling.
In the end, what success looks like is how people feel, whether there is money in the bank balance, whether they have got enough to pay the rent and the mortgage, and have enough aside for the little luxuries that make life worth living. And, for too many people today, that is just not the reality.
Reeves says Israel should not attack Rafah
Q: In the light of what is happening in Gaza, should the UK end arms sales to Israel?
Reeves says there should be no attack on Rafah.
On arms sales, she says there are strict rules governing them, and she says they should be followed.
Q: Do your plans involve more borrowing?
Reeves says that, when she visited the US last year, one of the message she picked up from President Bidenâs team is that economic recovery is not just about the money.
As an example, she cites Labourâs plans for planning reform.
Reeves is now taking questions.
Q: What is your response to Rishi Sunakâs claim that a vote for Labour would mean a chaotic minority government?
Reeves says, looking at the results from last week, Labour can be confident its message is resonating. But it needs to fight for every vote.
