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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
The writer is chancellor of the exchequer
After nearly a decade and a half of stagnation and decline, this country has a radically different government. One that is relentlessly focused on delivering what matters most to working people.
People whose household budgets are still stretched. People who lie awake at night hoping that their rent is not hiked, their boiler does not break and that their car starts in the morning. Because there is no emergency fund.
The root cause of these everyday battles is a failure to deliver economic growth. Stagnation is much more than a line on a graph. It is overworked public services. The all-consuming stress of making payslips stretch further. The lack of opportunities for decent secure jobs in the local area.
With the cost of living crisis still being felt by millions every day, delivering sustainable growth is more urgent than ever. Our mission to have the highest sustained growth in the G7 remains this government’s number one goal.
But growth that does not make working people better off is pointless. That’s why the prime minister has set out that our mission will be judged on how it delivers higher living standards across the country. It will be measured through higher real household disposable income per capita and higher GDP per capita.
At the Budget, I was clear about how we will deliver. First two fiscal rules — the stability rule and the investment rule — will bring stability back to our public finances. This gives us the space to invest in our country — an additional £100bn over the next five years.
Second is investment. We need to attract business investment to rebuild Britain for good. The £63bn celebrated at the international investment summit is just the start. Our 10-year industrial strategy will hardwire stability and long-termism into the UK economy.
To tackle uneven growth the National Wealth Fund will drive £70bn into regional towns and cities. The bolstered Office for Investment will shake up Whitehall and help make the UK the first choice for investment. This will be backed up by the new growth-focused remits for regulators and for pension mega funds to focus money on infrastructure and clean energy projects.
Finally, the most challenging pillar, reforming the UK planning system. This is currently too slow, lacks ambition and makes investing in this country incredibly difficult. We will sweep aside planning laws that are holding back development, from housing to infrastructure and new businesses. This government will change the law to cut costs, simplify and streamline the planning process, so we can reach our milestone of building 1.5mn homes.
We also need to transform how we train people. Over a third of vacancies in the UK are due to a lack of skills. Business won’t invest if the workers are not there. Skills England and the Get Britain Working white paper will change this as we work to achieve an ambitious 80 per cent employment rate.
Restoring economic stability, attracting new investment and reforming wherever we can — that’s how we deliver growth. And that’s how we will raise living standards for everyone, including their access to properly funded public services.
My first Budget put this in motion. As part of it, I asked businesses to pay more to put our public finances back on a stable footing. I am not immune to the impact. And I’ve heard lots of feedback on my changes — but no alternatives.
The partnership this government has forged with business is something the prime minister and I are proud of and determined to continue. Since arriving at the Treasury, I’ve engaged with around 250 businesses, through roundtables, bilateral meetings and receptions. They will continue to play a vital role as we look ahead.
Nowhere do we see greater innovation than in our most successful businesses. We need that innovation in government. That is why the next spending review will not be a Whitehall echo chamber. I am determined to do things differently — we will seek out the ideas, expertise and innovation of the private sector and bring them into the heart of government.
And so that we maximise the value of every pound, the spending review will be zero-based, meaning every single line will be assessed on whether it represents value for money and is a priority for this government. We will be on course to deliver the plan for change the prime minister set out yesterday, while delivering true value for money.
Because that is at the heart of everything this government will do over the next decade. No vanity projects. No distractions. No gimmicks. But practical targets based on whether the public feel in their daily lives that we have delivered the change we promised.
