Echoes of Rishi Sunak in Rachel Reeves’s rite of passage speech
The Mais lecture has become a kind of rite of passage for all aspirant chancellors.
This annual speech, held at the Bayes Business School in the City of London, was where Nigel Lawson laid out his thinking about reforming the economy in the 1980s.
It was where George Osborne provided his plan for his first 50 days in office, where Gordon Brown explained the economics behind his policies.
It is, in short, a very big deal.
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So the merest fact that Rachel Reeves has given this lecture is, in a sense, a part of the story of her ascendancy. If the polls are to be believed, she will shortly be Britain’s next chancellor (its first female chancellor, believe it or not).
This is her moment on the stage, to expand on the economic foundations for her time in government.
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So in one respect it feels a little churlish to accuse her of providing too little information on the policies she’ll be implementing if she does enter Number 11. The Mais Lecture is all about technocracy, not about big spending pledges.
And on the technocratic front, this lecture certainly delivered. There will be a beefed up role for the enterprise and growth unit inside the Treasury, a new task for the Office for Budget Responsibility to ponder the importance of investment.
And she confirmed, in the most explicit terms yet, that she will not change the Bank of England‘s 2% inflation target – and that her fiscal rules will closely resemble the government’s current ones.
A Tory-sounding speech
But, as you can tell from the last two points there, it is hard, reading the lecture as a whole, to divine a dramatic change from the current nature of government policy.
While the shadow chancellor talks approvingly about the US Democrats’ subsidy schemes for boosting green investment, there is no hint that the UK will do anything similar. Indeed, Ms Reeves has just recently cancelled her plan to increase annual government green investment to £28bn a year.
Perhaps the simplest accusation one can direct at Ms Reeves is that her plan sounds deceptively similar to the ones proposed by the current government.
Indeed, the three priorities from Rishi Sunak’s own Mais lecture of 2022 – encouraging businesses to invest more, improving technical skills and cementing Britain’s position as the most innovative economy in the world – all feature in Ms Reeves’s own lecture.
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Now on the one hand, you might well expect journalists, who like news, to complain about the lack of big news in this speech.
But on the other hand it’s not clear that the policy plans provided by the Labour Party are in any way proportionate to the scale of challenge it suggests it faces.
Moreover, while George Osborne committed in his Mais lecture to an emergency budget within 50 days of getting into office, followed shortly by a spending review, Ms Reeves still has yet to confirm she’ll have an emergency budget soon after the next election.
Any policies ahead of the election?
At this stage, a lot of people are rightly wondering whether Labour has any sizeable policies left ahead of the election – especially given the Conservatives have just stolen their plan to abolish non-dom status at this month’s budget.
As it happens, Labour do have plans for an emergency budget within 100 days of the election, and a spending review too.
But they are wary of talking about them too soon – both because of the risk of market instability and because they are bedding in for a long campaign and a late election.
The Labour strategists believe it is much more sensible at this point of the electoral cycle – with many months likely left before an election – to emphasise stability and good sense rather than to throw titbits of policy out there into the open.
They suspect that any policies they announce will likely be stolen by the Conservatives – and they might have a point.
Nigel Farage has told Sky News he “can’t be pushed or bullied” by anybody after Elon Musk said the Reform MP “doesn’t have what it takes” to lead his party.
In an interview with Sky’s political correspondent Ali Fortescue, Mr Farage said he has spoken with the billionaire owner of X since his criticism on 5 January, when Mr Musk said: “The Reform Party needs a new leader. Farage doesn’t have what it takes.”
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Asked if the pair are still friends, Mr Farage said: “Of course we’re friends. He just says what he thinks at any moment in time.”
He added he has “been in touch” with Mr Musk, though wouldn’t divulge what they had discussed.
“Look, he said lots of supportive things. He said one thing that wasn’t supportive. I mean, that’s just the way it is,” Mr Farage said.
Musk and Farage met in December. Pic: PA
Asked if he was afraid to criticise the tech mogul, the Clacton MP said the situation was “the opposite”, and he openly disagreed with Mr Musk on his views on far-right activist Tommy Robinson.
Mr Farage said: “What he [Musk] was saying online was that effectively Tommy Robinson was a political prisoner and I wouldn’t go along with that.
“If I had gone along with that, he wouldn’t have put out a tweet that was against me.
“By the way, you know, I can’t be pushed or bullied or made to change by anybody.
“I stick to what I believe.”
Mr Musk has endorsed Robinson and claimed he was “telling the truth” about grooming gangs, writing on X: “Free Tommy Robinson”.
But Mr Farage said that Robinson, who is serving an 18-month jail term for contempt of court, isn’t welcome in Reform UK and neither are his supporters.
He said: “If people within Reform think Tommy Robinson should be a member of Reform and play a central role in Reform, that disagreement is absolutely fundamental.
“I’ve never wanted to work with people who were active in the BNP. I’ve made that clear right throughout the last decade of my on/off political career. So that’s what the point of difference is.”
Despite their disagreement, Mr Farage said he is confident Mr Musk will continue to support Reform and “may well” still give money to it.
The entrepreneur has previously spoken positively about Reform UK and there have been suggestions he could make a multi-million-pound donation in its favour.
Devolution plans ‘denial of democracy’
Mr Farage was speaking from Reform’s South East of England Conference, one of a series of regional events aimed at building up the party’s support base.
Elsewhere in the interview, he hit out at the Labour government’s devolution plans which could see some local elections scheduled for May postponed.
This would apply when councils seek permission to reorganise, so that smaller district authorities merge with other nearby ones to give them more sway over their area.
Mr Farage, who is hoping to make gains in the spring contests, claimed the plans are not about devolution but about “elections being cancelled”.
“I thought only dictators cancelled elections. This is unbelievable and devolution or a change to local government structures is being used as an excuse,” he said.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage earlier this month. Pic: PA
He claimed Tory-controlled councils are “grabbing it like it’s a life belt”, because they fear losing seats to Reform.
“It’s an absolute denial of democracy,” he added.
Mr Farage was also asked why many Reform members don’t like to speak on camera about why they support his party.
He said he did not accept there was a toxicity associated with Reform and claimed there was “institutional bias against anybody that isn’t left of centre”.
Specialist search teams, police dogs and divers have been dispatched to find two sisters who vanished in Aberdeen three days ago.
Eliza and Henrietta Huszti, both 32, were last seen on CCTV in the city’s Market Street at Victoria Bridge at about 2.12am on Tuesday.
The siblings were captured crossing the bridge and turning right onto a footpath next to the River Dee in the direction of Aberdeen Boat Club.
Henrietta Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
Eliza Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
Police Scotland has launched a major search and said it is carrying out “extensive inquires” in an effort to find the women.
Chief Inspector Darren Bruce said: “Local officers, led by specialist search advisors, are being assisted by resources including police dogs and our marine unit.”
Aberdeenshire Drone Services told Sky News it has offered to help in the search and is waiting to hear back from Police Scotland.
CCTV of the sisters. Pic: Police Scotland
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The sisters, from Aberdeen city centre, are described as slim with long brown hair.
Police said the Torry side of Victoria Bridge where the sisters were last seen contains many commercial and industrial units, with searches taking place in the vicinity.
The force urged businesses in and around the South Esplanade and Menzies Road area to review CCTV footage recorded in the early hours of Tuesday in case it captured anything of significance.
Drivers with relevant dashcam footage are also urged to come forward.
CI Bruce added: “We are continuing to speak to people who know Eliza and Henrietta and we urge anyone who has seen them or who has any information regarding their whereabouts to please contact 101.”
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