Speeches by Reeves.

“Our growth plans are not just about planning, but I honestly believe that, after stability, planning is the biggest thing that this Government can do to unlock growth, whether that is in energy infrastructure, digital infrastructure, transport—”

“Yes, and the OBR said it was an upside risk to their growth forecast. We were less than four months into this new Government when the OBR put together its forecast, and we have more work to do to deliver on that growth mission. When I talk to businesses, big and small, they say that two things are most important. The f…”

“That is certainly our ambition. You had Richard Hughes and the Office for Budget Responsibility team here yesterday, and I want to thank them for all their work that goes into the forecast process. They said to your Committee that one upside to their growth forecast is the planning reform that we have begun work on. On…”

“Thank you very much, and it is a real privilege and pleasure to be here today to take questions from your Committee. Growth is the No. 1 mission of this Government and something we are determined to deliver, because, in the end, it is economic growth that drives up living standards and ensures that we have the money bo…”

“What I am saying is that there are other ways to raise this money. We could have frozen thresholds for longer and on a wider range of taxes. I do not think that was the right approach. Again, a lot of people were speculating—and arguing—that we should have frozen income tax and national insurance thresholds for a furth…”

“Thank you for that question. First of all, that is the approach that Governments take when making compensation, otherwise you would be making arbitrary decisions around what is public and what is private. This is the definition of what the public sector is and that is what is being compensated for.”

“I think we did make the Budget announcements in the Budget. I think it was important in terms of the fiscal rules to indicate to markets how the investment and stability rules would work, but even those—the measure we were using, the timeframe to meeting our rules and all of that—were announced to Parliament.”

“Madam Deputy Speaker, on 4 July, the country voted for change. This Government were given a mandate: to restore stability to our economy and to begin a decade of national renewal; to fix the foundations and deliver change through responsible leadership in the national interest. That is our task, and I know that we can …”

“In the circumstances I have inherited, it is the right choice to make. Successful businesses depend on successful schools, healthy businesses depend on a healthy NHS, and a strong economy depends on strong public finances. If the Conservative party chooses to oppose this choice, it is choosing more austerity, more chao…”

“I would politely suggest that hon. Members listen to this, because it includes funding for vital compensation schemes for victims of two terrible injustices: the infected blood scandal and the Post Office Horizon scandal. The Leader of the Opposition rightly made an unequivocal apology for the injustice of the infected…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for his excellent work as co-chair of the Labour Growth Group. I know that he is passionate about how we can use data to boost productivity and improve public services, and he is working with Wigan council and his local NHS trust to build data-driven tools to better deliver preventive healthcare.…”

“The Government’s growth mission will counteract 14 years of sluggish economic growth, kick-starting a decade of national renewal. We have wasted no time in getting to work: we have already launched the national wealth fund, introduced reforms to the planning system, and hosted the international investment summit, secur…”

“This is likely to be the last time that the shadow Chancellor, the right hon. Member for Godalming and Ash (Jeremy Hunt), is up against me at the Dispatch Box. We have had the privilege of these exchanges for just over two years now, and I have a huge amount of respect for him. He steered our country through a very dif…”

“My hon. Friend is right: the previous Parliament was the worst ever recorded for living standards. Tomorrow’s Budget is an opportunity to fix that and turn the page so that we can start delivering for families in Hexham and all around the country.”

“We have already announced the child poverty taskforce, which is working to publish a comprehensive strategy to tackle child poverty. We will publish that strategy in spring next year. We have also provided £500 million, including the Barnett impact, to extend the household support fund in England until the end of March…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for her question and congratulate her on her great work on the Co-op’s food justice policy. As she knows, we are right behind her in our commitment to raise living standards across the country. We made a manifesto commitment to update the remit of the Low Pay Commission so that, for the first tim…”

“My hon. Friend is absolutely right. It is why we will ensure that the Low Pay Commission takes into account the cost of living, and why we will close the gap between the youth rate of minimum wage and the overall rate, so that all adults can be paid a fair wage for their work.”

“I can understand the hon. Member’s concern, but of course, that £1.5 billion was already baked into the forecast—it is not new money to spend on initiatives. As she knows, we inherited a £22 billion black hole in the public finances; we will set out the detail of that at the Budget tomorrow, but because of that, we hav…”

“As the hon. Lady knows, because of our commitment to the triple lock, the basic state pension and the new state pension will continue to rise. This winter, the new state pension is worth £900 more than it was a year ago, and it is likely to rise by a further £450 next April. Indeed, during the course of this Parliament…”

“I am sure the right hon. Gentleman told them about the £22 billion gap in the public finances that his Government left, which has required the difficult decisions this Government have had to make to clean up the mess left by the Conservative party.”