Addressing government, UK Labor pledges strong finances and strong public services

LIVERPOOL, England, Sept 26 (Reuters) – Britain’s opposition Labor Party laid out its economic vision on Monday, promising to be fiscally responsible and take care of public services if it comes to power, in a blow to government tax cuts. conservative for the healthy.

At their annual conference, Labor lawmakers are feeling a change in their fortunes after a painful defeat in the 2019 election, feeling they can now offer voters a real choice after the government announced a“growth plan” which gave tax breaks primarily to big business and the wealthiest.

Friday’s so-called mini-budget drove a wedge between Prime Minister Liz Truss’s Conservatives and Keir Starmer’s Labor Party, which wants to use the years leading up to an election in 2024 to show its team is ready for power.

Rachel Reeves, the Labor Party’s finance policy chief, told the conference in the northern English city of Liverpool that the party wanted to boost growth by focusing on green projects, but would do so without sacrificing workers by increasing the minimum salary.

“Know that these are Labour’s priorities. Strong public services, to support people and grow our economy,” Reeves said at the conference to sustained applause.

“It is time for a government that is on your side. That government is a Labor government, and have no doubt that government is on the way.”

He took aim again at the “Growth Plan” unveiled by Finance Minister Kwasi Kwarteng on Friday, accusing it of prioritizing the wealthy over workers fighting rising prices by resorting to the discredited “trickle down economy” theory.

“A return to a drip idea that was tried, tried and failed,” he said, again comparing Truss and Kwarteng to “two desperate gamblers in a casino, chasing a losing streak.” read more

The government says deregulation and tax cuts will raise Britain’s long-term rate of economic growth.

Reeves also pledged to “build British industry” by using a national wealth fund similar to funds in Norway and Singapore, with an initial £8bn ($8.6bn) earmarked for green projects, and establishing a new minimum salary. read more

Labor hopes to fill the void left by the Conservative government, which has moved to the right with its economic plan and has also lost the confidence of the markets, with the pound falling to an all-time low against the dollar. read more

Kwarteng scrapped the country’s top income tax rate and canceled a planned increase in corporate taxes, all on top of a hugely expensive plan to subsidize energy bills for homes and businesses, with few details of how it would be paid for in the short term. term beyond increase in public debt.

on Sunday, Starmer promised to reverse abolishing the top income tax rate and restoring it to 45%, saying tax cuts for the wealthy would not stimulate growth.

Reeves said the plan was not what people voted for after Truss was appointed prime minister by the Conservative Party rather than the public following the resignation of her predecessor, Boris Johnson.

“It is endangering our economy,” he said. “And Labor will fight every step of the way.”

($1 = 0.9263 pounds)

Information from Elizabeth Piper; Edited by Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Toby Chopra

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