Rachel Reeves says the Conservative economic plan ‘has been tested and has failed’

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves says Liz Truss and her cabinet’s economic plan ‘has been tested and has failed’.

Rachel Reeves described “trickle-down economics” as an idea that “has been tried, has been tested and has failed”, during a speech at Labour’s conference in Liverpool.

“We are facing a national emergency,” she said. “Energy prices up, the cost of the weekly food shop up. People’s wages not keeping up.”

She chastised Kwasi Kwarteng’s fiscal plan and said, “On Friday, the chancellor had an opportunity to set out a serious response to the cost of living crisis. And he failed.”


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Reeves added: “The message from financial markets was clear on Friday, and this morning the message is even more stark – sterling is down [and] that means higher prices.”

The value of the pound Sterling has dropped significantly since the Conservative party’s statement on Friday. It is now at an all time low against the US dollars.

The shadow chancellor described the Conservative party’s track record as “12 years of failure”, adding: “It’s time for a government that is on your side, and that government is a Labour government.”

She said: “The prime minister is content to let energy giants pocket the cash and leave your children and your grandchildren to pick up the tab.”

Reeves explained her plan for Labour if she was elected. Reeves explains how the money would go to fund more NHS staff and says Labour would use the revenue generated by a 45% tax increase.

“I can tell you: with a Labour government, those at the top will pay their fair share.

The 45p top income tax rate is returning.

Here’s what we will do with that money:

The next Labour government will double district nurses who are qualified every year to train. We will train over 5,000 new health workers. Every year, we will place 10,000 additional nurses and midwives.

We will double the number of medical school students to ensure that the NHS has the doctors it needs.

It will be up to us to repair the damage done by the Tories. We have done it before and, conference we will do it again.”

She used the analogy of the chancellor and prime minister resembling “two desperate gamblers in a casino, chasing a losing run. But they’re not gambling with their money, they’re gambling with yours.”