Starmer says growth is ‘No1 priority’ as he fuels Heathrow row with Labour hitting the panic button over stalling economy… and fears taxes will rise again_Nhy
Keir Starmer insisted growth is his ‘number one priority’ today as Labour hits the panic button over the stalling economy.
The PM and Rachel Reeves met business leaders in central London this morning as they try to restore shattered confidence after the Budget tax raid.
Ahead of an expected announcement on Heathrow expansion tomorrow, Cabinet ministers have been ordered to ditch policies that could stand in the way of efforts to kick-start activity.
Sir Keir said the Government’s ‘growth mission’ was now the driving force behind policy decisions – seemingly pushing climate concerns down the agenda.
He told business chiefs in the City of London that had been made clear to ‘each of our Cabinet colleagues’.
The Chancellor will deliver a major speech tomorrow setting out plans for growth, including support for expansion of Heathrow airport.
Keir Starmer insisted growth is his ‘number one priority’ today as Labour hits the panic button over the stalling economy
The PM and Rachel Reeves met business leaders in central London this morning as they try to restore shattered confidence after the Budget tax raid
That is a project previously opposed by many senior Labour figures, including Energy Secretary Ed Miliband.
Sir Keir refused to confirm the Heathrow move explicitly, but told business leaders: ‘When you’re answering the question, ‘should we do X, or should we do Y’, that is guided by the mission.
‘Should we do X? If it’s good for growth, good for wealth creation the answer is ‘yes’, if it’s not then the answer is ‘no’.
‘It prioritises and gives a sense of direction to government.’
He added he was ‘hard-wiring growth into all the decisions of the Cabinet’.
‘So what Rachel and I have done is to make it clear to each of our Cabinet colleagues that in each of their briefs, growth is the number one mission,’ he said.
Asked by broadcasters afterwards if he was choosing growth over Net Zero commitments, Sir Keir said: ‘I’m not going to speculate about Heathrow and any decision there.
‘What I will say is that growth is the number one priority, wealth creation, making sure that people are better off.
‘Of course, we also have climate commitments but growth is really important too.’
Speaking at Bloomberg’s HQ in the City of London, he added: ‘I have been absolutely clear what the number one priority of the Government is, before the election and since the election: that is growing our economy so it’s thriving, growing it in a way that we get wealth creation in every part of the United Kingdom and growing in a way that people feel genuinely better off.
‘I think that’s a key test of what we want to achieve in government.’
Ministers will be expected to set out the growth credentials of new policies in order to get approval from their Cabinet colleagues, in a shake-up to the usual system to get ‘collective agreement’ on substantive changes.
The PM has asked Cabinet Secretary Sir Chris Wormald to implement the changes.
The Chancellor (pictured) will deliver a major speech tomorrow setting out plans for growth, including support for expansion of Heathrow airport
The new rules mean that the economic impacts of proposals will be subjected to the same rigorous assessment that already applies to new public spending.
Speaking at the same meeting of business chiefs in London, the Chancellor said her duty was to promote the UK as a destination for business investment.
In a sign of a change of rhetoric following months of highlighting the difficult legacy left by the Conservatives, Ms Reeves said: ‘It’s the role of government to shout about all the amazing things that we are doing as a country, all the huge opportunities that we have.’
