RACHEL REEVES CHANCELLOR TREASURY SECRETARY LEEDS WEST CABINET MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT MPs SIR KEIR STARMER LABOUR'S MINISTERS AND SECRETARIES OF STATE 2025 GOVERMENT FOR KING CHARLES

Rachel Reeves, the MP for Leeds West since 2010, has become the first female Chancellor. But what is she doing to the country? Election promises broken all over the place!

She was promoted to shadow chancellor in May 2021, having first been appointed shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when Sir Keir took over as leader. Pity she did not stay there. She's virtually, and single handedly, handed Reform UK, the next election on a plate.

Her first budget does not tackle grass roots corruption, but falls back on additional borrowing along with raiding pensioner's piggy banks. It's a disgraceful and shameful sell-out for all those people who have worked hard to be able to retire with dignity. It is a perceived human rights violation by many. The only good thing being to increase military spending to defend democracy against communist oppression. But even so, will that money get spent wisely, or top up the procurement fraudsters bank balances. We should perhaps be investing in robotics on the battlefields and against Chinese naval build up. And that technology could be exported. Yes Rachel, exports. Remember when Britain manufactured and exported products? No, you are too young.

Rachel did not serve in Mr Corbyn’s shadow cabinet, but did hold senior roles in Ed Miliband’s top team when he was Labour leader, including that of shadow work and pensions secretary.

Ms Reeves said she hoped her appointment as the first female Chancellor would inspire future generations of women, saying: “It is the honour of my life to have been appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer.

“I know what responsibility it brings, and I am ready to deliver the change our economy needs to make working people in all parts of the country better off. It comes with a historic responsibility as the first woman to be appointed Chancellor. To every young girl and woman reading this, let today show that there should be no limits on your ambitions.”

Rachel Reeves has warned the UK economy is in its worst state since the Second World War and blamed previous governments for "decisions deferred and decisions ducked."

In her first major speech as Chancellor, Ms Reeves said she had discovered how bad things are in her first 72 hours in the job as she grapples with the legacy of "14 years of chaos and economic irresponsibility". Treasury analysis she saw over the weekend showed the UK's economy would have been £140billion bigger - with £58billion more for public services - if it had grown at the average rate of OECD economies during the last 14 years, she said.

Ms Reeves faces an unenviable task of trying to get the economy firing again, while trying to repair battered public services without pouring in loads of cash. Here are the key takeaways on from her first major speech as Chancellor on how she plans to do it.

One of the main reasons for the UK's underperformance is too many bums on seats doing nothing. Especially in local councils, where corruption is rampant and shirking from home has now become the norm. It must be on her radar to get Britain Back to Work, needing an act of Parliament to achieve that. It's no shame in admitting that the idea came from this anti-corruption website. The sooner something like the proposed draft if acted upon the better.

Figures showing Britain has the worst investment levels in the G7 should “ring alarm bells” in No 10, critics have said.

The UK was at the bottom of the table behind the US, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Canada, with public and private investment just 18.6 per cent of GDP in the three months to September, latest figures show.

Business groups warned the situation was also likely to get worse after April, when a series of changes announced in Rachel Reeves’s Budget, including changes to business rates and a rise in the living wage, come into effect.

In response, one Labour MP accused the chancellor of driving down business investment with “broken commitments”.

Across the G7:

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which cited figures from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

According to economists at PwC, public investment will rise by £13bn in 2026–27, the biggest two-year increase since the financial crisis in 2008. However, private investment “will stagnate due to weaker business sentiment and lower profit growth”, according to Barret Kupelian, PwC’s chief economist.

Labour MP Graham Stringer put pressure on the chancellor over the figures, telling The Times: “No economy can succeed when hobbled by the highest energy costs to industry and commerce in the developed world.

“Until the chancellor deals with energy, everything else is second order, but the uncertainty she has created around family businesses and broken commitments on tax has made businesses reluctant to invest.”

Sir Mel Stride, the shadow chancellor, said “being bottom of the G7 for investment should ring alarm bells in Downing Street”.

Shadow Treasury minister James Wild said in a post on X that ordinary people would “suffer” as a result of a PM “with no plan and no backbone”.

Reform’s Richard Tice said wealth creators were being driven away, as he pointed to the pharmaceutical giant Merck scrapping plans for a £1bn research centre in the UK.

Meanwhile, Craig Beaumont, executive director of the Federation of Small Businesses, said that business sentiment was now “closer to dismay than confidence”.

“Pressure is building up against investment and growth in 2026. April will see huge cost hikes put on small businesses across the board: energy standing charges will rise, employment costs will rise, business rates bills will rise,” he said.

“To keep more businesses viable and unlock confidence, investment and growth, the government must have an answer to these at the spring forecast.”

In response, the government said: “Unlike previous governments, we are investing in our economic future, with over £120bn more in capital investment compared with previous plans and the highest level of public investment for 40 years.

BUDGET 2025

The Chancellor suggested she would set a date for the next Budget within the next few weeks, before Parliament breaks up for the summer recess. MPs are expected to sit until the end of July so the new Government can get going on its legislative plans.

Ms Reeves said she would "do things properly when it comes to our budget" and ask the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to produce detailed forecasts for it. Liz Truss famously refused the OBR's forecasts for her tax-slashing mini-Budget in 2022, which sent the economy into meltdown and triggered the end of her short-lived stint in No10.

NEW HOMES

Ms Reeves confirmed Labour's commitment to build 1.5million new homes by the next election with an overhaul of planning rules that are stopping Britain building. New developments will be allowed on some parts of the green belt after review of the boundaries by local authorities. In our view, these should be for flatpacks only, and reserved for those on the list for self-builds. They should be built of sustainable timber, with renewable energy as a feature.

The Government will prioritise brownfield and so-called grey belt land for housebuilding, which would include affordable housing and housing for social rent. And housing for immigrants. Mandatory housebuilding targets will be restored and 300 additional planning officers will be hired to speed up decisions.

Ms Reeves said: "This is not a green light for any type of housing. We will take an interventionist approach to make sure we have the right housing mix that our country needs and our people need.”

Asylum seekers are to be housed in newly built council homes as part of the Government's push to end the use of migrant hotels.

Up to 200 local authorities are said to be keen on the scheme, while five councils - Labour-run Brighton and Hove, Hackney, Peterborough and Thanet, along with Labour-Liberal Democrat-run Powys - have confirmed their interest, according to The i Paper.

The pilot scheme would see £100million in additional funding for the building of new properties or for the refurbishment of old, derelict buildings in order to house asylum seekers.

Some council bosses are said to be keen on "renationalising" asylum accommodation, rather than private contractors, and welcome the prospect of adding more properties to their portfolio.

But the decision is expected to be met with fury by those who feel extra money spent on social housing should be for local residents.

Last year, 1.33million people were on a waiting list for social housing in England - the highest number since 2014.

20,560 social homes were lost in 2023/2024, primarily through Right to Buy sales and demolitions, while England is expected to sell off eight times as many council homes in 2025/26 as were built in the previous year.

In London, only about five per cent of those on the waiting list have any chance of being rehoused, according to a City Hall inquiry, and in some boroughs, the average wait for a family home is up to 15 years.

The new scheme would allow councils to buy more properties, such as new housing developments where homes are struggling to sell, for asylum seeker accommodation.

Properties would then be leased to the Home Office, and eventually added to the council's social housing stock with the view of saving money in the long term.

There are currently 36,000 asylum seekers in hotels and around 71,000 accommodated in the private rented sector - a total of over 100,000.

Due to a huge surge in anti-immigration protests across the country, Labour have pledged to abolish the use of hotels as asylum accommodation.

"I want to close those [asylum] hotels as quickly as possible," Sir Keir Starmer told GB News last month.

"We need to get the number down. I'm determined to close all migrant hotels."

The Government initially turned to army barracks, with two sites set to open in Crowborough, East Sussex, and in Inverness. A total of 900 migrants are set to be housed across both locations.

But with over 100,000 migrants the Home Office is responsible for, it is local authorities who want to take on some of the job.

Some £100million has been set aside either build new housing or restore empty properties - the figures suggest this would be enough to build 900 homes.

With an estimated 200 councils interested in the scheme, Bella Sankey, leader of Brighton and Hove City Council, told The i Paper that the current asylum housing system was "inefficient" in allowing taxpayers’ money to be "creamed off for handsome profits by private companies".

"Owning more of our own housing, housing that can be used much more flexibly in future, would be a win-win," she told the paper.

"It would be far better to invest in local authorities to build or buy stock, rather than money going out of the door to private contractors, private landlords, to hotels.

"I think that over time this could replace entirely the need for private contractors to have any role in the system. Each local authority could be asked to step up and do their bit."

INFRASTRUCTURE

Decisions for major infrastructure projects will be made nationally rather than locally to stop important schemes getting tied up in red tape. The Chancellor said a new taskforce would fire up progress on stalled housing sites, including some 14,000 homes in Liverpool central docks, Worcester Parkway, Northstowe and Langley Sutton Coldfield.

ONSHORE WIND BAN DITCHED

The new Government has immediately ripped up the effective ban on onshore wind. Under the Tories, wind farms were treated differently to other developments, with schemes stopped if there were any local objections.

Onshore wind is one of the cheapest forms of green energy. Schemes can be built quickly, helping to slash emissions and reduce dependence on expensive gas.

Ms Reeves unveiled the reforms today as part of Labour's commitment to double onshore wind and transform the grid to clean energy by 2030.

IS GROWTH POSSIBLE IN 2026?

Ms Reeves was pinning her hopes on boosting economic growth.

We would caution Ms Reeves. Suggesting that all Growth, should be Blue and Green. Hence, sustainable in line with the United Nations Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs). Or, face increased global warming. Geography and science may not be her strong suits, but climate change will surely scupper all efforts at economic sustainability, if not handled sympathetically to planet earth.

Where the Conservatives got it all wrong, Labour has a mammoth task ahead, turning the tide, and then building on the strengths of the Nation. Unfortunately, getting it almost completely wrong in 2025.

Okay, so the when the revelry evaporates, it comes down to brass tacks. How is the Starmer Cabinet going to turn the UK around?

Might we suggest a return to basics. Sir Kier has already looked at taking back control of, or recreating a new National Grid, to stem the blood flow of dividends to overseas investors.

This could be a new renewable energy highway, based on renewables, electricity and hydrogen mix. Investing in a clean future that is sustainable. The UK might easily become a net exporter of energy. Even after heating homes, powering factories and giving the nations zero emission mobility. It's not rocket science.

Then, there is the matter of affordable housing where the Conservatives have been all about executive housing that only landlords can afford. Leading to councils going bankrupt as they try to cope with mounting bills for temporary accommodations in guest houses and hotels.

We need to grow more trees for wood. As a carbon lock and to build sustainable housing. We also need to grow more vegetables. With incentives as per those in World War Two, when allotments were the order of the day.

Unfortunately, we no longer have an automotive industry. Where once we exported such brands as the Austin Mini, Jaguar, Aston Martin and Rolls Royce. Those are now in foreign ownership or the trademarks sold off. Now, we face stiff competition from Chinese auto makers, as they export cheap electrics.

What we do have in abundance is creative talent in film, TV series, and music exports. Anyone remember The Beatles, Mick Jagger (Rolling Stones) and Rod Stewart. At one point in time Abba was one of Sweden's biggest exports. We need to nurture and support our film studios. James Bond is a great British movie franchise, presently in the doldrums. Even Hollywood movie scripts are now funded by Chinese investors.

There is nothing to prevent a resurgence of British engineering and manufacturing. Perhaps a new electric mini, but with a brand name to reflect low cost, zero carbon motoring. With solar assistance as a first, as standard. Obviously, such vehicles should be capable of running on green methanol or lithium batteries as a stop gap. Hence, a means of swapping from one technology to the other should be built into new designs. Especially in HGV trucks and vans that may then deliver goods taking advantage of the new (proposed) Hydrogen Grid with Smart service stations, providing electricity and renewable energy in the form of hydrogen gas and methanol. The new liquid gold.

The opportunities are endless, provided there is support for SMEs to grow their ideas into exports. We are at war with China as to cheap imports. We need to be able to balance the books with UK Intellectual Property, or get back to making products in the UK to stem imports from aggressive overseas expansion. Stop the brain drain.

You can only raid the population's piggy-bank so much before they rebel again. There must be incentives for entrepreneurs to give it a go, and not feel cheated.

And then there are wasteful councils leaching yet more taxes from hard working families, and not providing services like infrastructure or even repair of potholes, as they stash the cash for golden pensions, instead of providing public services at good value. Here we might cut the red ink by pulling planning back to central government, to prevent all the back-handers, discrimination and other corruption. Such as procurement fraud.

Thousands of council jobs might go using AI administration to shore un the Pension Black Hole. There are councillors pulling down expenses when almost all planning decisions are delegated to officers. In many cases councillors are bullied and brainwashed into silence. When they should be asking questions about illegal agendas.

And that goes for civil service jobs and duplication of effort. The UK might operate more efficiently without the armies of civil servants, non productive workers in plum jobs who produce nothing and simply gum up the works with more red tape, obfuscation and negativity - seeking to justify (build) their part.

Criminal charges should be brought against Southern Water, South East Water, Northumbrian Water, South West Water, United Utilities, Thames Water, Wessex Water Anglian Water, Severn Trent and Yorkshire Water for persistent discharge of sewage into our rivers and seas. The penalty for long term non-compliance could be loss of their franchise, as part of new statute.

S olar panels should be compulsory on all new homes and reverse the de-facto ban on onshore wind.

Labour need to call an emergency dentistry summit, to force private dentists to take some of the NHS loads, with financial penalties attaching. Consider monitoring NHS treatments for every practice. Where at the moment they say no NHS clients, and lay off NHS clients to outside practices, forcing payments to private dentists - on no treatment: Blackmail.

End no fault evictions and strengthen renters rights, alongside the requirement to build affordable and sustainable homes, also including new powers to local authorities to control rents - where Rent Tribunals appear not to understand the concept of affordability and/or human rights. And give new powers to the State to ensure that Councils actually force developers to build affordable homes (low cost installations of energy and water autonomous flatpacks, etc.), before they are allowed to build executive housing for rent and property speculators. Suggest a target percentage that needs to be fulfilled, or block other development.