Speeches by Reeves.

“Those would be decisions for MHCLG and local government.”

“We have put £39 billion into building more social and affordable housing in this Parliament. There is no lack of ambition from this Government in realising the benefits of those investments.”

“Yes, we do look at those things, and as far as possible we try to reflect them in our forecasts. Sometimes things require an up-front cost to realise benefits further down the line. That is the whole approach that we have taken with more investment in capital. It is also why, in my answer to Mr Glen’s earlier question,…”

“The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, along with the Mayor of London, has published some specific London reforms to boost house building in London. You are right that it has lagged behind the rest of the country over the last couple of years, but we are turning that around. We are also s…”

“No, actually. On the edge of my constituency is Castleton Mill, and in the centre of my constituency is Sunny Bank Mills, which employs as many people today as it did when it was a woollen mill, but now it is creatives and tech businesses.”

“As in every wave of technological change in the world, you have never been able to hold on to the past. What you have to do is embrace the future. The Government have a key role in making sure that we skill people up. Take my city of Leeds: it was built along the canals with the mills. The mills now host great start-up…”

“But there are also thousands and thousands of jobs being created every single day.”

“In the spending review last year, we invested in things like sovereign compute and the biggest supercomputer up at Edinburgh university. Things like this are about ensuring that when a scale-up business or a multinational business thinks about where to invest, it chooses the UK, because that is where we get the jobs fr…”

“Britain has already attracted many global tech companies to this country, and we are also growing our existing businesses. One of the points of the pensions reform, for example, is to enable innovative businesses that are starting in this country to scale in this country. Changes to the listings rules and the tax incen…”

“AI is already having a big effect on the economy. Some of the real-time data show that productivity has actually been pretty strong in the last year or so. We are still working through the numbers, as are other economists, but part of that will reflect a greater use of technology and AI in the economy, whether that is …”

“The price of petrol today is 8p per litre lower than if I had followed the plans that were left to me by the previous Conservative Government. From April, it will be 11p per litre lower. Of course, we keep these things under review, but oil prices today are 24% lower than they were yesterday, so things are very volatil…”

“Stability is the most important thing that we can do to get interest rates and inflation down, and tackling the cost of living—especially given the global headwinds—is my top priority. At the Budget, we took money off energy bills and froze prescription charges and train fares. The Government’s cheaper fuel finder sche…”

“The Renters’ Rights Act 2025, which will come into force in the next month or so, will make a big difference to my hon. Friend’s constituents and to all our constituents who are contending with living in the private rented sector—particularly with issues such as evictions, but also with mid-term rent increases. At the …”

“We absolutely recognise the pressures facing families. Bringing stability back to the economy is the No. 1 thing that we can do for working families. There have been six cuts in interest rates since the general election, which has seen the average cost of servicing a mortgage come down by about £1,300 a year. The Rente…”

“I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising this important issue. While the approved mileage allowance payment rates have not changed since 2011, I recognise that motoring costs have evolved significantly, and it is an important issue for many people who claim motoring expenses. We are, therefore, looking at the issue …”

“I genuinely thank my hon. Friend for all he has done to draw attention to this important issue. I am also grateful for representations from the trade union Unison, given that this particularly affects low-paid workers, including care workers like Gemma. We have a standard Treasury policy of keeping all taxes under revi…”

“Some people have short memories, haven’t they, Mr Speaker? I remember the Conservatives freezing those thresholds on a number of occasions. We said in our manifesto that we would not increase the headline rates of national insurance, VAT and income tax that working people pay, but I did say clearly at the Budget last y…”

“The conflict in the middle east affects all of us, and I understand the anxiety felt by families and businesses. Rapid de-escalation in the middle east is the best way to protect businesses and working people from rising costs, which is why I continue to work closely with G7 colleagues to call for immediate de-escalati…”

“There are two things going on with heating oil. First, we have the conflict in the middle east, which we are trying to de-escalate, and secondly, we have price gouging. The way to deal with that is to ensure that customers are treated fairly and companies are not ripping off their customers. That is why we have asked t…”

“I thank the right hon. Gentleman for raising the important issues with heating oil that his constituents are facing. I very much hope that he will be able to attend the meeting tomorrow. There are two key issues: making sure that vessels can again flow through the strait of Hormuz, which requires a de-escalation of the…”