Rachel Reeves can’t win, can she?

[anothervoter]

After days and days of negative press and chatter about income tax going up, complaints on Mumsnet and across the media, today’s reports are that idea might be dropped and now she’s being accused of rattling the markets and making the cost of borrowing increase.

Honestly, genuine question- what can she do?

Spot on @EmpressoftheMundane.

That would certainly be more useful than a fast link to London.

Agree! I live in London. Getting the North motoring is key to our national prosperity. Let London crack on with finance and the biomedical triangle with Oxbridge.

A big counterbalance in the North with money pumped into STEM research in the universities, along with some tax breaks for high tech manufacturing would seem like a punt worth making.

Definitely. There are some amazing universities in the NE. Sad all the students bugger off.

I think they would stay if the job prospects were better. And there are good firms who struggle to attract talent. It’s a vicious circle. A lot comes down to the cities just being a touch to small to have scale needed to thrive. We should link them up with Manchester as the anchor.

There's only a tiny Professional services eco system in the North East. Tax breaks and lowering costs of doing business to reflect the lack of wealth up here would be a start. And a few decent manufacturing firms that will need those professionals. The private sector creates growth not the public sector. Which is where Labour have got it so wrong.

Perhaps better to focus on manufacturing and the professional services that go along with it like design, engineering, etc.? If it grows, the other more general stuff will blossom to support it.

Ideally. Though I suppose the NE has been stuck for a very long time. And Labour dont seem to be helping either. Particularly with net zero and the cost of electricity in manufacturing.

So a public funded rail line would help... thankyou

TBH i don't really know why you re arguing, i m not say no tax breaks at all but it has to be combined with public funded investment, as Ireland did & Germany has done in the past to have growth we could only dream of.

Agree completely, energy costs in this country are ridiculous.

It doesn't have to be black and white. And its no good for one area to be drained to another.

Tax breaks are the key. Public spending does not create wealth. That's Labour's big mistake and why we are going bust

Spending and investment are not the same. And redistribution is definitely not investment.

Actually that's a pretty outstanding suggestion. The counter argument would be that it would divide the economy between North and South but if it helps creates jobs in the North who cares.

We aren't going bust thats a ridiculous and inaccurate suggestion but if you think we are, its not Labour who caused it, debt to GDP went from 65% to almost 100% by the time the Tories left office.

You still don't get get, its not Tax breaks are key, its a combined approach - public spending is not the same as public investment, so subsidised energy costs, is a form of public investment is it not?

Do you think Rachel Reeves is doing a good job? There was no black hole by the way. We all know that. Or if there was, shes doubled it. Unfortunately. This is why she is the most unpopular Chancellor on record. So most people can see it even if you can't.

Will have to agree to disagree on whether public "investment " by taxpayers creates wealth. (I do get what you are saying. I simply utterly disagree with it. That's allowed.)

https://ifs.org.uk/articles/ps22bn-black-hole-was-obvious-anyone-who-dared-look

Its debatable issue whether there was one.

RR has now increased spending. So even if there was one its now double. As I said.

Tbf its been suggested for years and never happened. And is unlikely to for the foreseeable future sadly.

I’ll take the word of the IFS. And how could it double if it didn’t exist?

She has made mistakes but i also think that there is a narrative against her, probably because she is a woman, a Labour woman.

Its funny that you disagreeing with me is all ok but vice versa and i get the backhanded slurs.

I don't get your argument at all, its perverse, you think a tax break gets a company a skilled workforce, roads and decent rail links.

I'm giving two options, neither of which show RR in a good light.

I dont believe there was a "black hole" that she had no clue about. No one does unless they are very gullible. That's fairly obvious to most people.

If there was in fact one, Rachel Reeves immediately increased it and has continued to do so.

I am pretty pissed off about it to be honest. We haven’t had a single call this autumn. Usually we are inundated end of sept. Nada. Because everyone was spooked.

It’s fucking ridiculous! If she says she going to be xyz I retain the right to express either disagreement of agreement with said plans. But the fact she’s gone and fucking made a huge hoohaa about it for months AND THEN NOT EVEN FUCKING DOING IT!

Honestly fuming. And I have every right to be. She’s directly fucking with our family and for nothing.

No there is no campaign against her because shes a woman. We are beyond that in 2025. The Conservatives have had several women leaders.

Its impossible for a state to "create wealth". The private sector is the wealth creator. You can't create wealth by building roads. The wealth created by the private sector is what pays for the roads.

And that's the disaster of Labour and why we are heading for the rocks.

So no black hole because you say there wasn't one.

The reality is there was a great deal unfunded commitments the Tories left Labour to pay for, e.g public sector pay rises, even the NI cuts weren't funded, thats 11bn per year.

Now we have increased defence spending and Trumps Tariffs to deal with.

I am happy to give two options bearing in mind I know Labour lies to us so none of us know the truth as to what she really knew or didn't know.

We've got the high increased cost of the foolish Chagos deal, the increase in public sector wages with no reform like the train drivers, the increase in numbers of state funded pupils that would otherwise have been educated privately, the massive increase in the cost of electricity (highest in europe) on business due to the mad net zero policies, the shut down of the North Sea and oil refineries, increase in benefits due to rising unemployment. I could go on. So that "black hole" if there was one is now a super massive black hole. Which it wasnt before.