In her inaugural speech as the UK’s first female chancellor, Rachel Reeves of the Labour Party divulged that the freshly-elected government has taken on the grimmest situation since the aftermath of World War II. She now intends to undertake a thorough assessment of public expenditure. After the overwhelming triumph in the previous week’s polls, Ms. Reeves outlined her fiscal strategies and economic stimulus plan through her discourse at the treasury.
In her endeavour to boost economic growth, Ms. Reeves committed to revamping the planning process, building a greater number of homes, and reintroducing national housebuilding objectives. She plans to terminate the informal prohibition on the construction of new onshore wind farms across the UK.
Reeves posed the challenging question, “We all desire growth, but is our will strong enough? Are we ready to make tough choices and stand up to established interests?”
The Labour Party has vowed to oversee the construction of roughly 1.5 million homes during the upcoming parliamentary term of five years.
Following their electoral victory, Labour secured 412 parliamentary seats, with Keir Starmer as prime minister, while the Tories ended up with merely 121 seats. As a part of their first order of business, 334 newly elected Labour MPs attended parliament in Westminster to obtain their entry passes and familiarise themselves with the venue.
Later on Monday, Prime Minister Starmer proceeded to Wales after his morning tour to the North. On Tuesday, he plans to convene with England’s 12 elected mayors over breakfast at Downing Street where they would discuss how devolution could expedite decision-making and development.
Meanwhile, the newly-appointed education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, spent her Monday devising a strategy to recruit an additional 6,500 teachers for British schools as confirmed by a spokesperson from Downing Street. The fresh health secretary, Wes Streeting, held a meeting with the British Dental Association to outline the future course of action.
Regrettably, Emily Thornberry, Starmer’s shadow attorney general, found no place in the final ministerial team. Despite expressing surprise and disappointment, she pledged to support the government.
Sir Keir Starmer has brought Annelise Dodds into his team as the minister for women and equality, enabling her to participate in cabinet sessions, albeit not from the Labour front bench. Meanwhile, Hilary Benn, the Northern Ireland Secretary, has vowed to establish fresh ties between the UK government and Stormont.
This week, the induction of MPs into the House of Commons will occur in various groups. Sir Keir Starmer’s induction is scheduled for Tuesday, succeeding the speaker’s election. This will be followed by his departure for America to join the Nato summit chaired by President Joe Biden.
Prior policy for the deportation of Rwandan refugees has been entirely overturned by the Prime Minister. Furthermore, the Labour party is expected to soon present its strategy for the re-nationalisation of UK railways.