UK Labour Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves has described Prime Minister Liz Truss’ plan of “trickle-down economics" as an idea that "has been tried, has been tested and has failed”.
Speaking at Labour’s conference in Liverpool on Monday, Reeves argued that Britain is “facing a national emergency” because “energy prices [are] up, the cost of the weekly food shop [is] up, [but] people's wages [are] not keeping up”.
“On Friday, the chancellor had an opportunity to set out a serious response to the cost of living crisis. And he failed”, the shadow chancellor said, calling the Conservative Party's record "12 years of failure".
Reeves claimed that it's time for a cabinet that is “on your side, and that government is a Labour government”. According to her, “under these Tories, those with the broadest shoulders carry the lightest load. And not by accident, but by choice”.
She spoke after a YouGov poll commissioned by The Times newspaper showed that Labour has gained the highest level of citizen support over the ruling Conservative Party in 20 years. The survey indicated that Labour prevails over the Conservatives by 17 percentage points, and that overall, Conservative backing has dropped by four percentage points to 28%, while Labour’s rose five points to 45%.
The poll was released ahead of Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer’s speech at the annual party conference later on Tuesday, when he is expected to announce that Labour’s Green Prosperity Plan will create a million new jobs across the UK, bring down energy bills and raise living standards.
Starmer is also likely to declare that under his leadership, Labour is now "the party of the center-ground" and is ready to form the next government. Additionally, Labour is expected to promise to "fight the Tories on economic growth" through "ambitious" and "practical" plans for jobs, skills and tackling the climate crisis.
On Monday, the UK pound plunged to its lowest level against the US dollar since the British currency went decimal in 1971, a few days after Kwarteng unveiled his emergency tax-slashing mini-budget to help the government tackle the cost-of-living crisis.
In early Asia-Pacific trade on September 26, the sterling fell by more than 4% to $1.0327 before it regained some ground to about $1.05, extending Friday's 3.61% drop, something that caused turmoil on UK markets.