LIVERPOOL: Britain's governing Labour party on Monday sought to strike a more upbeat note about the country's economic future against a furious backlash at proposed cuts to welfare payments and a row over top ministers receiving gifts.
In a keynote speech to the centre-left party's annual conference in Liverpool, interrupted by hecklers, finance minister Rachel Reeves reiterated the need for "iron discipline" on the economy amid ballooning state debt.
Britain's first woman chancellor of the exchequer said her first budget next month would open the way for business investment that would hand the country "lasting growth". She repeated Labour's pre-election pledge that workers would not face tax rises on salaries, paving the way, however, for increases on other levies, according to analysts. She also pledged "no return to austerity" as seen under Conservative rule. The government last week agreed bumper pay rises for doctors and train drivers but as Reeves neared the end of her speech, news came through that nurses had rejected an improved pay deal.
"We must deal with the Tory legacy and that means tough decisions but I won't let that dim our ambition for Britain," Reeves told a packed hall as she looked ahead to next month's budget announcement. She said her spend plans will show "real ambition... a budget to rebuild Britain".
Reeves also confirmed the appointment of a new Covid corruption commissioner to try to claw back billions of pounds in taxpayers' money wasted on contracts.
But as the chancellor and other ministers try to prevent a row over "freebies" from escalating, Britain's economy is failing to deliver, with recent official data showing UK government debt at the highest level in more than 60 years.
At the same time, the nation's economic growth has stalled and its annual inflation rate remains above the Bank of England's target, slowing a path to cuts in interest rates that would likely boost consumer spending. The conference should have been an opportunity for Labour to toast its landslide July general election victory over the Conservatives after 14 years out of power. — AFP
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