Shadow Chancellor tells businesses in the East she wants to bring stability back to the economy

Over 100 businesses from around the East of England attended a Business Leaders event in Ipswich last night

Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves (Green Suit) Jack Abbott (Centre right) and the sponsers of the event PLMR
Author: Jasmine OakPublished 1st Mar 2024
Last updated 1st Mar 2024

The Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer tell us she wants to focus on economic growth, stability and improving living standards.

Labour's Rachel Reeves was speaking at the Business Leaders Event in Ipswich last night, where she met with more than one hundred businesses.

The event was hosted by Labour’s Parliamentary Candidate for Ipswich, Jack Abbott and was sponsored by PMLR, to give business leaders from across Suffolk and the East of England the chance to share their thoughts with the Shadow Chancellor.

Some of the issues that were brought up included worries about empty high stretts, tax, help for young people in business and more.

Jack Abbot told us this was something he wanted to do because he wanted to "make sure she came away with a real sense of what Ipswich can do, all the potential we have but also some of the challenges we need to solve to grow."

The Chancellor spent the evening talking to people individually, asking about their business and the struggles they are facing before standing on stage and addressing the crowd.

She discussed what she would do should Labour be elected, making her the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

This included the commitment to...

  • "Get rid of the Non-Dom Tax Status"
  • "Have VAT and Business Rates on private schools"
  • "Tax big private equity companies"
  • "Bring in private investment"

These are just a few things she described would be part of her "comprehensive plan for economic growth", which she hopes will "bring back stability to the UK economy."

She continued: "Labour wants to bring prosperity, wealth creation, jobs and investment here to Ipswich, to Suffolk, East Anglia and right across the country...to improve living standards for working families and make sure we have the money that we need to invest in public services."

The government will be announcing its latest financial plans in the budget next week.

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