A Labour government won’t be able to do all the things it wants to because of the “chaos” left behind by the Tories, Rachel Reeves has accepted.
The Shadow Chancellor said the government’s failure on housebuilding would hit the economy by £44 billion - with the UK missing out on £16 billion of tax receipts in the coming years because of the slowdown in building.
Labour ’s plans, which aim to ensure 70% of families own their own homes, would put “rocket boosters” under the building industry, Ms Reeves said ahead of an emergency summit of mortgage brokers this Wednesday.
But it follows disagreements over the party signalling some popular policies, including universal free school meals and the two-child limit on benefits, wouldn’t happen immediately.
“Some of the things I came into politics to do are going to be harder than if the tories hadn’t made such a mess,” Ms Reeves said.
She told the Sunday Mirror: “I think it’s fair to say there’s lots of things Labour would like to do but the circumstances we’re going to inherit means not all of those will be possible, certainly not as soon as we would like.
“I have been clear that everything in our manifesto will be fully costed and fully funded. If we haven’t explained where the money’s going to come from, it’s not our policy.”
Asked if it was frustrating having to say no to good ideas from Shadow Cabinet colleagues, she said: “It is frustrating that the Tories have caused such damage that what we’ll be able to put forward is going to be limited by those circumstances. But there’s certainly big reform on offer.”
As well as the housebuilding programme she said investment in the NHS paid for by scrapping non-dom tax breaks, free breakfast clubs for primary school kids and the “new deal for working people” would deliver “real tangible change that will make a real difference to people.”
But, she added: “I make no apologies for saying everything will be fully funded and fully costed because I know that to run an economy that works for working people you’ve got to have that economic stability that I think people crave after this chaos and mismanagement under the tories”
Labour’s plan would bring back local targets for housebuilding and introduce a state-backed mortgage insurance scheme.
And it would give local people first dibs on new build homes in their area.
“Too often, families who are saving for their first home but getting no closer to buying it tell me that they feel like they’re doing something wrong,” Ms Reeves said.
“But there is a common denominator here when it comes to our broken housing market, insecure economy, soaring prices and broken public services – and that is a Tory government that has failed to achieve anything in the last 13 years.
“Nowhere is that more true than on homeownership, with more and more people locked out of the market, or forced to pay hundreds of pounds a month more because of the Tory mortgage bombshell. It is clear that the Labour Party is now the only choice for people who dream of owning their own home.”
Ms Reeves told the Mirror of a family of three - two parents and a toddler - she’d met in Worthing, who had five jobs between them.
“They only have half a day a week together as a family as they juggle childcare commitments,” she said.
“They’re not able to save, so they can’t build up a deposit for a house. And the mum just said to me ‘you wonder if you’re doing something wrong’.
“It’s such a terrible thing that that mum worries that she’s doing something wrong. She’s doing everything right, but there’s something very wrong with the economy.”
She added: “If I have the opportunity to move next year to become Chancellor of the Exchequer, I’ll know I’ve succeeded in my role after the first term of a Labour government if more families like that one I met in Worthing are able to save for the future, spend time together as a family.
“That security of family finances and time together as a family is what success looks like.”
