By David Luhnow
Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves promised the most business-friendly government in British history if her Labour Party, now in opposition, wins election, as expected, later this year.
A former economist at the Bank of England, Reeves said the Labour Party would inherit the worst economic outlook for the G7 country since World War II, with weak growth, high debt and chronic political uncertainty.
To fix those things, she outlined an economic playbook that marks a big shift away from the statist orthodoxy of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, describing the role of government as creating the conditions for business to drive growth.
She was speaking Wednesday evening at The Wall Street Journal's CEO Council in London.
"The truth is, with the economic inheritance we're going to get, we're not going to be able to spend our way to better public services, we've got to grow the economy and reform the public services to be able to ensure they are delivering for the people, whether it's schools or hospitals," she said.
Reeves said she would focus on stability after an era of shocks including the pandemic and Brexit, spurring investment in areas such as green technology. She also said she would seek changes to the U.K.'s fragmented pension system to encourage savings to be channeled into investment.
Write to David Luhnow at david.luhnow@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
05-09-24 0715ET
