Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves’ speech delivered to HM Treasury staff yesterday (Friday 5 July):
Thanks to all of you for being here. It is such an honour to be here today as the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
I know what a responsibility this brings – to guide our economy through uncertain times;
To restore stability in an age of insecurity;
To build prosperity that draws on the talents of working people.
The central mission of this new Government will be to restore economic growth.
During the election that was the Labour Party’s mission.
It is now our national mission.
And it will be for the Treasury to lead that mission.
Not growth for growth’s sake.
But growth for a purpose.
To make every part of our country better off.
To deliver on this mission, I want this to be the most pro-growth Treasury in our country’s history.
That will mean doing what the Treasury does best – building growth on a rock of economic stability.
But it also means taking on new challenges and new responsibilities.
To fix the foundations.
And to rebuild Britain;
To drive growth not just in a few pockets of our country but in every part of Britain.
To meet the challenges and seize the opportunities of the future – including our energy transition.
That is why this Treasury will play its full part in a new era of industrial strategy;
Working hand-in-glove with business, to make sure Britain is truly open to business once again.
And I know that in an uncertain world, if we can deliver the stability, investment and reform that the Prime Minister and I have set out, then Britain can reap the rewards.
But for families at home – I know that this is about more than just lines on a graph.
It is about tackling the causes of the cost of living crisis and making work pay.
Rebuilding our health service and our schools.
And driving opportunity in every part of Britain.
I will always hold in my minds eye the people across our country whose livelihoods, public services and aspirations will rise or fall based on the decisions we make here.
And I ask you to do the same – whether in Darlington, or Norwich, or in this building.
It is also a huge privilege to be the first ever female Chancellor of the Exchequer.
So every young woman and girl watching this:
Let today show that there should be no ceilings on your ambitions.
Your hopes,
or your dreams.
But there is a deeper responsibility too:
To women whose work is too often undervalued.
Who have borne the brunt of inequality.
And whose lives and interests are too often excluded from economic policymaking.
Together, we are going to change that.
Now, I have been a Member of Parliament for fourteen years now.
And if I’m honest, I’ve spent a lot of those years frustrated.
Talking, not doing.
Responding to constituents’ problems, but not being able to get to the root cause of those problems.
So as far as I’m concerned, there is no time to waste.
I will judge my time in office a success if I know that, at the end of it, there are working-class kids from ordinary backgrounds living richer lives, their horizons expanded, and their potential realised;
If we are leaving to the next generation a country that is more prosperous, with more good jobs paying decent wages, and a country better able to thrive in an uncertain world.
I know that a lot has been asked of you in the last few years – and I know, when the chips are down, staff at the Treasury have risen to the occasion, from furlough to energy price support.
I have often disagreed with the political choices that have been taken in this building.
But I have never been in any doubt about the talent, the dedication and the professionalism that Treasury staff have displayed.
I know too that at times it must have been frustrating for you, working under a weight of uncertainty, changes in direction, and without clarity of political purpose.
As Chancellor, I am determined to change that.
All our plans for government will rely on your hard work.
I’m under no illusion about the scale of the challenges we face.
The difficult choices that we will have to make.
I am not promising you that it will be easy.
There is a long road ahead.
It comes with a great weight of responsibility.
I embrace it.
It will demand hard work.
I am ready for it.
The British people have put their trust in this new government.
They have put their trust in us to run their economy.
And to protect their finances.
And that trust must not be squandered.
We’re a team.
It’s a new start.
So let’s get to work.
Thank you very much.