"The chancellor's conference speech last week, received with standing ovations by the party faithful, made a powerful case for investment against austerity, and for Labour not Reform as the real workers' party. Conference, don't ever let anyone tell you that there's no difference between a Labour government and a Conservative government, she intoned a line that went down so well in the hall, aides said, she ad libbed a couple of extra lines for good measure."
"What was missing, however, was any sense of the principles by which Labour will decide which groups to hit with tax rises or how it might rebalance the system to make it fairer. At one level that is understandable: Labour have a fearsome communications challenge on their hands. The central reason for what may have to be upwards of 20bn of tax rises is the Office for Budget Responsibility's backward-looking reassessment of the UK's productivity potential."
Rachel Reeves faces a difficult second budget on 26 November that risks a negative reception unless she explains who will shoulder the cost of promised renewals. Her conference speech framed Labour as pro-investment and distinct from Conservative austerity, portraying Labour as the real workers' party. The speech lacked a clear set of principles for choosing which groups would face tax rises or how to rebalance the system to increase fairness. The Office for Budget Responsibility's lower productivity assessment implies possibly over £20bn of tax rises. Presenting the economy as still catching up after 14 years of austerity is step one, but a budget without a broader narrative risks being unpicked.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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