Chancellor Rachel Reeves has announced a plan to grow the economy, including building new housing and infrastructure. Report by Etemadil. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
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00:00We're here to talk about planning. Are you prepared to be unpopular among Labour voters
00:05when you push planning decisions through? And what sort of land will now be built on
00:10that wasn't before?
00:12We sought a mandate at the election to grow the economy. And today I set out our plans
00:17to do just that, to unlock the private investment that we need to create wealth and prosperity
00:22in all parts of the country and make working people better off. And to do that, we've got
00:27to build housing so that more people can get on the housing ladder and own a home of their
00:31own. And we need to build the infrastructure that our country desperately needs. Now we're
00:35at a site today in South East London where 1,300 new homes are going to be built on brownfield
00:42land. And we would take a brownfield first approach. But we also know that there is some
00:48greenbelt land that is not green that can be developed on. And that's why we've ordered
00:52a review into that.
00:54I mean, you've got a huge responsibility. You're now in charge of the country's finances.
00:59You said that the Treasury has shown you the state of things over the last 72 hours. How
01:04did you feel when you realised how bad things were?
01:07Well, I knew that the scale of the inheritance, the scale of the challenge ahead was going
01:12to be huge. That's why today I've got started and I've spent the whole weekend working on
01:19developing that plan for growth to unlock private investment. Because in the end, we're
01:23not going to be able to improve living standards for working people or have the money that
01:28we need for our public services unless we can grow the economy. And so that's why I
01:33sent my officials to work over the weekend, working with my team to begin to unlock the
01:38private investment that we need in the economy.
01:40I mean, it is really clear, isn't it, that there are spending demands that might not
01:43wait for growth to materialise. Right now, West Streeting is preparing to talk to doctors.
01:49That's not going to be free if you want to end the strikes. There are demands on HS2,
01:53for example. Is there a backup plan for the things that are more urgent than when this
01:59growth actually comes?
02:00Well, I've asked my officials to produce for me the full extent of the challenges and
02:06the inheritance on spending and the public finances. And I will present those to Parliament
02:11before the end of the month, as well as setting out a date for a budget, along with the independent
02:17Office of Budget Responsibility forecast. But unless we grow the economy, we are not
02:23going to be able to tackle the huge challenges we face as a country, whether that's improving
02:27living standards or having money for schools and hospitals. And so that's why my first
02:32action as Chancellor of the Exchequer is to begin to unlock the private sector investment
02:36that we need to grow our economy.
02:38And just on that, does the Treasury tell you that the plans you're announcing today will
02:43convince the OBR economists that growth is going to come?
02:47Well, the Office of Budget Responsibility is independent, and rightly so. But there's
02:51no time to waste in getting started with our plans to grow the economy. For too long, decisions
02:57have been deferred and delayed, and that's got us into the position we are in today.
03:03That's why...
03:04The Treasury is not independent. I was asking about the Treasury. Are they convinced?
03:07Well, it will be up to the Office of Budget Responsibility, who are rightly independent,
03:11to produce their forecasts. But there's no time to wait. We need to get started. That's
03:17why today I've set out a significant package of reforms to our planning system to unblock
03:22investment, to unblock growth, so that we can build the homes and the infrastructure
03:26our country desperately needs, so we can improve living standards for working people.
03:30Just very quickly, it was really moving when in the Treasury there was a huge cheer at
03:34the idea that you're the first female Chancellor. How do you think it will be different for
03:39the country to have a female Chancellor?
03:41Well, the position of Chancellor of the Exchequer has existed for hundreds of years, and a woman
03:46has never held that role. So I feel like I'm smashing one of the last glass ceilings in
03:50politics, and I'm really proud to do that. But along with it comes a big responsibility
03:55to pass on to our daughters and granddaughters a society and economy that works better for
04:01women, and I'm determined to work with my team to do just that.
04:05Rachel Rees, thank you very much.