Labour is “ready to rebuild Britain” and restore economic security after the “chaos” of the Tory years, Rachel Reeves said.
The shadow chancellor delivered her pitch to the nation at what is likely to be the last major Labour conference before a general election.
In her speech, Ms Reeves told activists in Liverpool that Labour would pull the economy out of the “wreckage of Tory misrule” with a “vision to rebuild Britain”.
She confirmed plans for reforms to the “antiquated” planning system to make it quicker and easier to build the infrastructure needed for modern industries and clean energy networks.
Ms Reeves confirmed that her first budget would crack down on the tax perks enjoyed by private schools, making them pay VAT and business rates.
She told Rishi Sunak to “bring it on” if he wanted a fight on the issue at a time when children in state schools were being taught in temporary classrooms due to crumbling concrete.
Ms Reeves said: “The choice at the next election is this: five more years of the Tory chaos and uncertainty which has left working people worse off or a changed Labour Party offering stability, investment and economic security so that working people are better off.
“It falls to us to show that Labour are ready to serve, ready to lead and ready to rebuild Britain.”
Ms Reeves also set out a series of measures to tackle the waste of taxpayers’ money:
– A crackdown on the use of private planes by ministers, which she announced with a jibe at Mr Sunak, suggesting his love of flying was because he was scared of meeting voters.
– Curbing Whitehall’s use of consultants.
– A new Covid corruption commissioner with a “hit squad” of investigators to recoup money lost in the “carnival of waste” during the pandemic.
