Rachel Reeves says Labour wants ‘inclusive’ version of ‘decade of renewal’ that followed Thatcher’s election in 1979 – UK politics live

A Labour party selection contest is being investigated by the police over allegations of “computer misuse” after reports of a data breach, PA Media reports. PA says:

The selection process for a parliamentary candidate in Croydon East was paused by the party in November last year after complaints that data on local members provided to some candidates was inaccurate and allegations the membership database had been tampered with.

Last night the Metropolitan police confirmed they were now investigating the matter, following the conclusion of Labour’s own inquiry.

A spokesperson for the force said: “We have received allegations of computer misuse in relation to an internal selection process for a political party in Croydon during October and November last year. The Met’s Cyber Crime team are investigating and enquiries are ongoing.”

The news comes a week after one of the candidates for selection in Croydon East withdrew from the contest, citing abuse he had received during the original process.

Joel Bodmer, an organiser with the trade union Unison, made the announcement that he was withdrawing on 12 March.

He said: “I do not want to expose myself or my family to the distressing level of abuse that arose from some quarters during the original selection campaign. My personal circumstances are now very different from when I put myself forward for Croydon East in the summer of 2023 and I do not currently have the emotional energy required for this contest.”

Labour declined to comment while there was an ongoing police investigation.

The Conservative party sent out a response to the Rachel Reeves speech extracts last night. As with almost all the rebuttal lines coming out of CCHQ these days, it does not really address the point being made by Labour but just says Labour would put up taxes.

Rachel Reeves may be promising a ‘new chapter’, but it will be the same old Labour. No plan – just more borrowing and more taxes – exactly how the last Labour government wrecked our economy.

The Conservative party sent out a response to the Rachel Reeves speech extracts last night. As with almost all the rebuttal lines coming out of CCHQ these days, it does not really address the point being made by Labour but just says Labour would put up taxes.

Rachel Reeves may be promising a ‘new chapter’, but it will be the same old Labour. No plan – just more borrowing and more taxes – exactly how the last Labour government wrecked our economy.

Tribune, the long-established paper (now a magazine and website) for the Labour left, is not impressed by Rachel Reeves’ suggestion that Margaret Thatcher delivered a decade of renewal.

Rachel Reeves’ claim that Margaret Thatcher ‘delivered a decade of national renewal’ is the latest attempt to justify the suffering caused by her policies — but decades after she left office, it’s clear that she left the economy weaker and more unequal.

And Alex Nunns, a former speechwriter for Jeremy Corbyn when he was Labour leader, has posted a thread on X criticising what Reeves is saying, as reported based on extracts released in advance.

Reeves vows an economic take-off similar to the Thatcher years. Let’s hope not. Thatcher came in and, in 1980-1, plunged the country into the sharpest, deepest recession since the war to that time, shutting down swathes of industry. Large parts of the country have not recovered.>

Under Thatcher the share of financial services in the total business income of the country rose from 15 to 24%, while that of manufacturing fell from 21 to 17%. The factories were replaced by the banks. Reeves is giving her speech to an audience of bankers in the City of London.

According to Reeves: “As in earlier decades, the solution lies in wide-ranging supply-side reform to drive investment, remove the blockages constraining our productive capacity, and fashion a new economic settlement.”

Supply-side reform is the essence of Thatcherite economic policy - attacking regulations, cutting tax for corporations and the rich, privatising everything, clobbering trade unions. Eg Thatcher’s Big Bang deregulation of the City, from which you can draw a line to the 2008 crash.

Reeves says the goal is growth. But despite the image of the 80s as a time of brash consumption, as against the recession-hit 70s, in fact economic growth was the same in both decades – 2.2%. Growth was stronger in the 50s and 60s. 2.2% was average by international standards.

So why does Reeves vow “a decade of national renewal” comparable to the 80s, when the historical record doesn’t support it? And why laud supply-side reforms “as in earlier decades,” which kicked the crap out of Labour’s base? Because she believes in it, I guess, as a Thatcherite.

Good morning. Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, is delivering the Mais lecture today, an annual City of London event where someone from the world of finance is invited to give an hour-long, heavyweight address on economics. (It’s called the Mais lecture, not the Mais speech, for a reason.) It’s a very presitigious gig, and the organisers like to invite someone powerful and important. It seems they didn’t want to hear from Jeremy Hunt.

We won’t get the full text of Reeve’s lecture until later, but Labour has released some substantial extracts in advance and there are two elements of particular note.

First, in news terms, Reeves is announcing plans to rewire the Treasury to put more focus on achieving growth. Larry Elliott has the details here.

Second, in political positioning terms, Reeves is aligning herself with Margaret Thatcher. She is stressing the need for supply side reform, and she is arguing that Britain’s challenges are similar to those faced in 1979. She will say:

We have found ourselves in a moment of political turbulence and recurrent crises with the burden falling on the shoulders of working people.

With at its root, a failure to deliver the supply side reform needed to equip Britain to compete in a fast changing world ….

I remain an optimist about our ability to rise to the challenges we face. If we can bring together public and private sectors, in a national mission – directed at restoring strong economic growth across Britain.

When we speak of a decade of national renewal, that is what we mean. As we did at the end of the 1970s, we stand at an inflection point, and as in earlier decades, the solution lies in wide-ranging supply-side reform to drive investment, remove the blockages constraining our productive capacity, and fashion a new economic settlement, drawing on evolutions in economic thought.

But Reeves will also stresses that in some respects she does not want to follow the Thatcher model. She will say that Labour wants “a new chapter in Britain’s economic history” but she will add:

And unlike the 1980s, growth in the years to come must be broad-based, inclusive, and resilient.

Growth achieved through stability – built on the strength of our institutions. Investment – through partnership between active government and enterprising business. And reform – of our planning system, our public services, our labour market, and our democracy.

In other words, she’s offering inclusive Thatcherism.

This does not seem to be going down well with the Labour left (more on that soon), but Labour’s campaigns team will probably care more about the fact that they are getting positive coverage on the front page of the Daily Telegraph.

Here is the agenda for the day.

9.30am: Rishi Sunak chairs cabinet.

10.30am: Ed Miliband, the shadow secretary for climate change and net zero, gives a speech at a Green Alliance conference.

10.30am: David Neal, the former independent chief inspector of borders and immigration, gives evidence to the Lords justice and home affairs committee.

11am: Andrea Leadsom, the health minister, gives evidence to the Commons health committee about dentistry.

11.30am: Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, takes questions in the Commons.

1.30pm: Mark Drakeford takes his final first minister’s questions in the Senedd (Welsh parliament).

3pm: Hunt gives evidence to the Lords economic affairs committee.

4pm: Simon Case, the cabinet secretary, gives evidence to the liaison committee’s inquiry into strategic thinking in government.

Also, the government is publishing its football governance bill today.

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