Chancellor Reeves to bang drum for British business

British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves began a three-day visit to New York and Toronto on Monday to promote the country as "a stable place to do business" in the aftermath of the change of government at the start of July.

The general election victory of the Labour Party, led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, brought an end to 14 years of governing by the Conservative Party, and in the King's Speech at the opening of the new session of parliament, economic growth was placed at the heart of the government's policy agenda.

"I've wasted no time in my first month in office in taking the difficult decisions necessary to fix the foundations of our economy, so we can rebuild Britain and make every part of the country better off," said Reeves. "There is no credible plan for growth without private-sector investment. That's why I'm breaking down barriers at home and banging the drum for Britain abroad as we gear up to host the International Investment Summit."

The global investment summit to be hosted by Starmer on Oct 14 will attract hundreds of leading international business leaders. But Reeves's visit, with a message of stability, is taking place against a backdrop of far-right rioting and disturbances across the United Kingdom, images that have been seen around the world.

Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said: "The summit is an opportunity to meaningfully engage with the world's leading businesses and investors, and to continue to build long-term relationships that will drive investment into the UK. The chaos of the last 14 years is no more. Britain is open for business, and we are the investment destination of choice."

Jeremy Hunt, who was chancellor under the last Conservative Party government, said the new government had been left a helpful inheritance by the previous regime, but in a statement in the House of Commons, Reeves, who says her first budget at the end of October will have to include more cuts and higher taxes, described it as "unforgivable", saying "they spent like there's no tomorrow because they knew someone else would pick up the bill".

"Knowing what they did about the state of the public finances, they continued to make unfunded commitment after commitment that they knew they could not afford," she said. "Where they presided over recklessness, I will bring responsibility."

One of the new government's first acts was to establish a National Wealth Fund, which has seen 7.3 billion pounds ($9.3 billion) set aside for investment in areas such as decarbonizing heavy industry, as part of a process of attracting private investment.

This is one of the topics Reeves will discuss in Toronto, pushing Starmer's message about his ambitions for Britain to become a "clean energy superpower".