Reeves vows action on growth amid rising debt costs
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has pledged to go âfurther and fasterâ to improve economic growth after market turbulence saw the cost of servicing UK debt rise.
The last few days have seen pressures on the public finances increase, after government borrowing costs hit their highest level for several years.
Conservative shadow chancellor Mel Stride called it âa crisis made in Downing Street,â saying business tax rises in Octoberâs Budget had dented the UKâs economic prospects.
Reeves said she was âunder no illusionâ about the scale of the challenge on the economy.
It is understood she will now bring forward announcements from Labourâs promised industrial strategy within the next two weeks.
The chancellor was addressing the Commons following her return to the UK from a trip to China to drum up investment.
During the debate, she accused Conservative critics of ignoring âglobal volatilityâ behind rising borrowing costs in other countries such as the US, Germany and France.
âThe economic headwinds that we face are a reminder that we should, indeed we must, go further and faster in our plan to kick-start economic growth that plunged under the last government,â she told MPs.
Reeves promised to set out new economic policies after next weekâs meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
The BBC has been told the industrial strategy, promised in Labourâs manifesto, is now being âfast trackedâ to help bolster growth.
Sector-specific announcements, like this weekâs strategy for boosting artificial intelligence, will be rolled out in the coming weeks.
On Tuesday, the yield on 30-year government bonds â the interest rate at which the government pays back investors â stood at 5.42% â close to the highest since 1998.
The yield on debt due for repayment in 10 years was 4.87% â close to the highest since 2008.
If sustained, higher UK borrowing costs may raise annual debt interest by ÂŁ10bn by 2029-30, wiping out the Chancellorâs ÂŁ10bn headroom against her self-imposed fiscal rules.
Speaking in the Commons, Stride accused the government of having âtalked down the economyâ and âcrippled businessesâ with rises in the Budget to employersâ National Insurance contributions.
âGrowth has been killed stone dead, inflation is rising impacting millions, interest rates are staying higher for longer, and business confidence has fallen through the floor,â he added.
âThis is a crisis made in Downing Street.â
On Monday, Sir Keir Starmer said he had âfull confidenceâ in Reeves and the government was committed to its fiscal rules.
But Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch accused him of refusing to back her after he declined at a press conference to answer specifically whether she would be in post at the next election.
Downing Street later confirmed the prime minister intended to keep Reeves as his Chancellor for the duration of this Parliament.