Reeves vs Miliband

Coffee House Shots

The Spectator

News, Politics, Government, Daily News

4.4 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 23 January 2025

⏱️ 10 minutes

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Summary

After last week’s bond market jitters, the Chancellor pledged to go ‘further and faster’ to improve the UK’s anaemic economic growth. It looks as though Rachel Reeves’ hunt for growth could come at the expense of Labour’s green agenda.

Reeves is poised to make a series of announcements over the next month, starting with a softened stance on non-doms and approval for Heathrow’s third runway – as well as expansions at Gatwick and Luton airports. The move indicates a shift in priorities, with economic growth taking precedence over climate targets. Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, is believed to be privately opposed to the airport expansion scheme. What happened to the ‘green Chancellor’? And is a power struggle emerging between two of the most influential Cabinet members?

Also on the podcast: after criticism of Labour’s education plans, is it really all Bridget Phillipson’s fault? Or is there blame to share around?

Katy Balls speaks to James Heale and Michael Gove.

Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

Transcript

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0:00.0	If you enjoyed the Spectator's podcast, why not subscribe to the magazine as well? You can get 12 weeks of The Spectator for just £12, plus a free £20 £10, John Lewis or Waitrose Voucher if you go to spectator.com.com.com. This is a podcast-only deal and we hope you take us up on it.
0:23.9	Hello and welcome to Coffee House Shots.
0:27.0	I'm Katie Balls and I'm joined by James Hill and Michael Gove.
0:29.9	Rachel Rees is in Davos talking about growth.
0:33.1	We also know that she's thinking about a third runway at Heathrow,
0:35.0	though perhaps in two decades' time.
0:39.0	Michael, looking at the messaging coming from the government at the moment. We also have an announcement on judicial review. They're really trying to look as though
0:42.9	it's growth above all else. Is this a change in tech? It's definitely a change in tech.
0:47.6	Rachel Reeves may have worried that the third runway in Heathrow would have been used by millionaires
0:51.3	fleeing the country. And therefore, what she's set out to do,
0:56.1	and the government set out to do over the course of the last week,
0:58.7	has show that their commitment to growth is in earnest.
1:02.3	So you're absolutely right.
1:04.2	We're not going to see the third runway in Heathrow for some time to come, if at all.
1:09.0	But it's a signal of intent.
1:10.7	It's powerful. And then it's also the
1:12.6	case that we've had announcements about changes to how environmental quangos will assess new
1:19.6	infrastructure projects and also an announcement which was presaged in your column, Katie,
1:24.5	about judicial review essentially trying to unclog the courts when new
1:28.5	developments are coming forward. Now, these are all complex areas. We can't imagine that there's
1:32.6	going to be a transformation overnight, but it's definitely an attempt to seem serious on
1:39.8	Labour's part. And of course, the announcement on non-doms today was, on the one hand, a U-turn,
	...

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