Rachel Reeves MP: ‘Importance of kickstarting economic growth’

By Rachel Reeves, Leeds West & Pudsey MP

A little over nine months ago, this Labour Government was elected to change our country. Since then, waiting lists have been coming down, breakfast clubs have been rolled out and the minimum wage has risen. 

When I delivered the Budget in October, I outlined the right decisions this Labour Government was taking to fix the foundations of the economy and begin repairing our public services.

These decisions stabilised the economy and prevented a return to austerity while protecting working people’s payslips. Now, compared to the Autumn, the economy is forecast to grow faster in 2026 and every year thereafter.

That said, the world has changed. Global uncertainty is pushing up borrowing and pushing down growth, and European countries are having to spend more on defence. 

Vladimir Putin represents a serious threat to our national security, and so we must promote a new era of security and renewal in a world which is changing before our eyes. That means backing Britain’s defence industry, so we can create good jobs in every part of our country, and it means getting Britain building so we can build homes and kickstart the economy.

This is why, in the Spring Statement I delivered to Parliament in March, I set out how the Government is going further and faster to kickstart economic growth.

We’re training up 60,000 young people and getting Britain building again; building 18,000 new social and affordable homes; fixing our public services by tearing out waste; reforming welfare to help people back to work; making the civil service lean and agile; keeping our country safe by increasing defence spending to 2.5%; and delivering more British jobs through new defence industrial strategy. 

We were elected to bring change to our country, to provide security for working people, and to deliver a decade of national renewal, and as your MP, as Chancellor, that is what drives me. Because without economic stability, it is working people who pay the price of instability with higher mortgages and inflation out of control.

The constituents of Leeds West and Pudsey, who I have the privilege of representing in Parliament, deserve a government that will always put working people first and deliver economic stability, and not the chaos we saw with the Conservatives and their disastrous mini-budget. 

This Government will not stand for that. Living standards are set to rise twice as fast this parliament compared to the last. This Labour party, a party in your service, is chosing stability, investment and reform not chaos, austerity and decline. That is the difference a Labour government is making. 

From knocking on doors in Armley to visiting Southroyd Primary School in Pudsey, since my last WLD column in February I’ve been busy getting out and about in Leeds West and Pudsey.

It’s also been a busy period in the office assisting constituents with casework – in March alone, my office closed over 100 constituent cases and handled countless queries on policy.

If you are a constituent and there is something you think I and my office will be able to help with then please do get in touch via rachel.reeves.mp@parliament.uk or 0113 255 2311.