Rachel Reeves says Tories are ‘gaslighting’ Britain over the economy. What would Labour do?

Keir Starmer has promised a ‘decade of renewal’ but his chancellor will have a hard job funding it, says Sean O’Grady

Rachel Reeves delivering her speech on the British economy (Getty)

Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, has caused a bit of a stir by accusing the government of “gaslighting” Britain over the economy. She told an audience in the City: “They say we’ve turned a corner. But try telling that to the 6.4 million households across England and Wales that last year saw their rent increase or had to remortgage. Or the 950,000 families whose mortgage deal is due to expire between now and January. They say ‘the plan is working’. Is this the same plan that has meant this is forecast to be the first parliament on record with living standards actually lower at its end than at the start?”

In fairness, much of her speech was the usual knocking copy on the government’s record, as opposed to a detailed plan for a parliamentary term, let alone the “decade of renewal” she and Keir Starmer are hoping for.

Is Rachel Reeves right about the economy?