Labour Party conference 2022: what shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said in speech about Liz Truss tax plan

Rachel Reeves told the Labour Party conference that she was speaking at a time of ‘national emergency’ and that Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng were “out of control”.

During her keynote speech the shadow chancellor criticised trickle-down economics - a policy associated with Liz Truss and the Conservatives, and what she described as “tax cuts for the wealthiest”.

She told delegates Labour was the party of “economic responsibility and the party of social justice.”

Calling the policy of trickle-down economics “wrong”, she confirmed a pledge to guarantee a minimum wage that “reflects the real cost of living” if she becomes chancellor.

In a “pro-business” and “pro-worker” speech, Ms Reeves also spoke of the plan for a Labour government to establish a national wealth fund in a bid to invest in new industries, declared this would result in a zero-carbon economy “made in Britain”.

Among the pledges she made was that a Labour government would bring back the 45p top rate of income tax and use the funds to boost NHS staffing numbers.

But what were the key points of her speech? Here’s what you need to know.

Attack on trickle-down economics

The shadow chancellor accused the Government of “12 years of failure” as she criticised the “inadequate” trickle-down economics approach.

She said: “I dare any Tory MP to tell a nurse or a care worker to their face that what our country really needs right now is bigger bonuses for bankers.

“Trickle-down is a very simple idea – and a very wrong one.”

Ms Reeves said the Government’s “ideology” has “nothing” to offer workers “beyond longer hours, lower pay and less respect”.

Wages

Ms Reeves pledged to guarantee a minimum wage that “reflects the real cost of living” if she becomes chancellor.

She said that a strong economy needs “rising wages”.

She told delegates: “On day one as chancellor, I will write to the Low Pay Commission with a simple instruction: that the minimum wage will be set at a level that reflects the real cost of living.

“The last Labour government delivered Britain’s first national minimum wage.

“The next Labour government will introduce a genuine living wage. That’s how we will give working people respect, that’s how we will give working people security and that’s how we will grow our economy too.

Business and the economy

As well as unveiling plans for a national economic council, she said a Labour government would abolish business rates.

She said: “If I were chancellor right now, I would bring together a national economic council that will bring together industry and trade unions so working people and businesses were at the heart of economic decision-making.

“When I talk to businesses, they don’t tell me that their number one priority is corporation tax.

“They tell me about the need for properly-targeted investment allowance, the need for workers equipped with the right skills, the need for certainty and a sense of direction from Government, and, yes, a need for a sensible working relationship with our European neighbours.”

She also called business rates the “biggest tax problem” facing companies and reiterated Labour’s commitment to scrap business rates and replace them with another system.

She said the new system would mean businesses get “revaluation discounts straight away rather than waiting years”.

State-owned industries

Ms Reeves indicated that state-owned industries would be part of Labour’s priorities.

Listing the priorities, the shadow chancellor said: “A greener, fairer Britain with jobs for people in Britain, industries owned by the people of Britain, profits shared with the people of Britain.

“Pro-business and pro-worker for a stronger economy, where you do well.”

Energy and green prosperity

She told delegates she would be “Britain’s first green chancellor”, and hit out at fracking saying: “Fracking is dangerous, it’s bad for the planet, it won’t even reduce our bills and with Labour it will not happen.”

Describing Labour’s green prosperity plan about economic growth in the UK she said: “We have the ability, but we want the jobs here, we want the factories here and we want British businesses to take the lead.”

Ms Reeves confirmed the plan for a Labour government to establish a national wealth fund in a bid to invest in new industries, including electric battery factories, offshore wind and others.

The fund would begin with an initial £8.3 billion investment to fund green industries.

The shadow chancellor added: “That is a real plan for the climate. That is a real plan for growth. And that is a real plan for levelling up.

“A zero-carbon economy – made right here, made in Britain.”

The NHS

Ms Reeves told delegates that “strong public services” were the foundation of society. She said the health service was “on its knees”.

Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng last week announced that, from April, the 660,000 earners getting more than £150,000 a year will no longer pay the top income tax rate of 45% and will instead pay the 40% applicable to those on more than £50,271.

Ms Reeves said a Labour government would bring back the 45p top rate of income tax and use the funds to boost NHS staffing numbers.

She said: “With a Labour government, those at the top will pay their fair share. The 45p top rate of income tax is coming back.

“Here’s what we will do with that money. The next Labour government will double the number of district nurses qualifying every year, we will train more than 5,000 new health visitors, we will create an additional 10,000 nursing and midwife placements every year.”

A Labour administration would also implement the “biggest expansion of medical school places in British history” in a bid to ensure the NHS has the “doctors it needs”.

“More than that, we will implement the biggest expansion of medical school places in British history, doubling the number of medical students so our NHS has the doctors it needs.”

She also said anyone who needed access to mental health services would have it within a month under a Labour government.