Chancellor Rachel Reeves will pledge “a Budget to rebuild Britain” in her speech to the Labour Party conference in Liverpool on Monday, including plans for a new Covid Corruption Commissioner.
Reeves is under pressure to provide some optimism following Labour’s gloomy messaging on the state of the economy they inherited from the Conservatives.
But her controversial decision to axe winter fuel payments for 10 million pensioners threatens to overshadow her speech, with an expected vote challenging the switch to means-testing on the conference floor the same day.
Reeves is also caught up in a row around donations, which continues to rumble despite the PM saying Labour’s top team will not accept gifts of clothes in future.
Speaking ahead of her first Budget on Wednesday, 30 October, Reeves will promise there will be “no return to austerity” and set out Labour’s vision for a “decade of renewal”.
Reeves will also announce a new Covid Corruption Commissioner will be appointed next month to help recoup the money owed.
She will vow to “seek out those who have ripped off the taxpayer, chase them down, take them to court, and claw back every penny of taxpayer’s money that they can”.
“My optimism for Britain burns as bright as it ever has done,” she is expected to say.
“My ambition for Britain knows no limits because I can see the prize on offer if we make the right choices now.
“I know that promise has felt far off in recent years, as our growth, productivity and family incomes have fallen behind – but it doesn’t have to be that way.”
However, she will also warn of the need for stability to avoid a Liz Truss-style meltdown of the public finances, whilst also claiming she will avoid austerity.
She will say: “The mini-budget showed us that any plan for growth without stability only leads to ruin.
“So we will make the choices necessary to secure our public finances and fix the foundations for lasting growth.
“Stability, paired with reform, will forge the conditions for business to invest and consumers to spend with confidence – Growth is the challenge and investment is the solution.”
Reeves will be hoping the message resonates with Labour supporters, with polls showing many are unhappy with the decision to stop winter fuel payments of up to £300 being handed out to every pensioner, regardless of wealth, from this year.
Labour’s leadership team has also come under fire from one of their own MPs over accepting donations of clothes despite their six-figure salaries.
York MP Rachael Maskell, who abstained in the vote to support Labour’s winter fuel plans earlier this month, posted on X to register her unhappiness.
She said: “I have been sickened by revelations of ‘donations’.
“It grates against the values of the Labour Party, created to fight for the needs of others, not self.
“Meanwhile pensioners are having their Winter Fuel Payments taken, risking going cold. I trust conference votes to change this.”
Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner defended her decision to accept clothes, as well as a stay in Lord Alli’s New York penthouse on a trip to New York.
Speaking on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, she said: “I don’t believe I broke any rules.
“I had the use of the apartment and I disclosed that I had the use of the apartment.”
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds also defended their actions, telling the BBC News Channel “no one has done anything wrong”.
Asked if he was unapologetic, Reynolds said: “I think the kind of things you’re talking about, no one has done anything wrong, there’s no suggestion of improper influence.
“This is the transparent system that we have, I think that’s a good thing.”