THIS week, Parliament has returned and this Labour government continues its work to deliver on our mandate of change.
But we’ve been clear. This is not a return to business as usual.
During the election campaign, I made a promise to the people of Britain, to the people of the North East, that we would deliver economic stability.
I did so because economic stability is the essential ingredient to creating jobs, spreading prosperity, and making every part of the country better off.
Fourteen years of the Conservatives chaos, infighting and economic mismanagement have left people in the North East worse off.
Over the last few years, I’ve visited workers in Bishop Auckland, spoken to people on the doorsteps in Darlington, and the overwhelming message was clear. Things have not gotten better for them over the last 14 years.
To make the economy work for ordinary people, we need stability. It’s stability which allows people to buy their own home, for a local business to thrive, and for a government to invest in public services which are fit for purpose.
The first test of that promise came within hours of being elected, when Treasury officials briefed me on the true state of the public finances. Briefings which showed just how badly they had let the country and the North East down.
The subsequent audit found an overspend of £4.6bn on the asylum system. Unfunded and hidden from the public.
An overspend of £1.6bn in the transport budget. Unfunded and hidden from the public.
Commitment after commitment that simply was not funded, taking us closer to the brink with each one.
The nation’s reserves, meant for emergencies, had been spent three times over within the first three months of the financial year, creating a black hole totaling £22bn.
Within the first few weeks of this government, it was clear that we had to act urgently. If not, we risked undermining the financial position of the whole country.
So we had to take those tough decisions. The decision to cancel the road projects that the government had no means to fund. To review the new hospitals programme – we had to ensure we weren’t offering patients false hope but that we had an honest and realistic plan to rebuild the NHS – and to protect the most vulnerable pensioners by means testing the winter fuel payment.
Not because we wanted to, but because we had to. These were tough choices, but choices that we had to make to protect the public finances and enable us to deliver the North East the change we promised.
I cannot say that there won’t be more tough decisions to come. But even though our economic foundations are damaged, the foundations of the country is still strong.
We can restore our economic stability, rebuild our public services, boost the standard of living in the North East, unlock regional growth and spread prosperity across every region and nation of the UK.
That’s the change the country voted for. And that’s the change we’ll deliver.
- Rachel Reeves is the Chancellor of the Exchequer
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