Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, visited Rochdale’s Mellor bus factory and pledged £15.6 billion in transport investment.
This is part of a broader £113 billion in additional investment that she plans to unveil in next week’s spending review. Reeves aimed to end the decades-old trend of growth being created in too few places and too few people feeling the benefits.
She promised a sweeping overhaul of the Treasury’s “green book” next week, which could finally tilt the balance away from endless resource-hoarding in the capital and the south.
Reeves also revived her signature idea of “securonomics,” focused on bolstering national resilience and protecting households from economic shocks. She cited her recent intervention to bring British Steel under control as an example.
The bruising local election results have sharpened Labour’s resolve, and Reeves wants to show Labour MPs that she has a growth plan that puts these areas first, ready to challenge Treasury dogma if needed.
The most headline-grabbing moment of her speech was her promise to partly reverse the winter fuel allowance cut, underlining the amount she will be hounded in the months ahead to explain how she plans to fill the £22 billion fiscal black hole she’s identified.
Treasury sources insist no decision will come before the autumn, so expect a summer of wearying speculation.
