How does Labour intend to achieve Economic Growth? A Response to Rachel Reeves's Mais Lecture

Abstract

The new Labour government's overriding priority is economic growth—and chancellor Rachel Reeves's March 2024 Mais lecture is the clearest statement of how they intend to achieve it. The anticipated ‘dullness dividend’ from being more stable than recent Conservative governments is likely to be small, while the incoming government will have to confront trade‐offs—for example, accepting lower consumption—to increase investment. Planning reform is at the heart of Labour's proposed supply side reforms, but it remains unclear whether the party will be bold enough to follow through on its rhetoric. Labour also believes that stronger worker protections will increase productivity. By contrast, education, migration and trade are more marginal in Labour's growth narrative. It is to be seen how far Labour has made a virtue of necessity by prioritising cheaper and apparently less politically contentious growth measures.