Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves defended Labour’s personal attacks on the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak during a visit to Hove today (Tuesday 11 April).
She said: “I’m not going to make any apology for highlighting the dire record of this Conservative government and this Conservative Prime Minister.”
“Whether it’s the criminal justice system, our health service, the cost of living pressures that people are under – this is a result of 13 years of Conservative failure.
“And as an opposition party, we’ve got to highlight that and put forward our alternative.”
The Tories have hit back, describing the adverts as “the height of hypocrisy” from Sir Keir Starmer while even some senior Labour figures have expressed unease.
The former Home Secretary David Blunkett, now Lord Blunkett, said that Labour should be above “gutter” politics.
At the Wave Community Bank, in Hove, today Ms Reeves spoke about the effect of the “cost of living crisis” and the difficulties facing first-time buyers as a result of interest rate rises.
She met the Wave team including chief executive Ann Hickey and president Richard Priestman.
She was accompanied by the Labour MP for Hove, Peter Kyle, and they spoke to some first-time buyers about the problems that they had faced.
These included high rental prices, making it hard to save, including for a deposit, the lack of affordable houses locally and the high house prices in Brighton and Hove.
Before her visit, Ms Reeves said: “The Tory mortgage penalty is devastating family finances, destroying dreams and holding back our economy.
“There is so much promise and potential in Britain that we can unlock if we can have a government that will put working people first and get the economy growing. That is what Labour will always do.
“Right now, we’d be freezing council tax, funded by a proper windfall tax on oil and gas giants to help ease the cost-of-living crisis facing so many.
“And as the party of home ownership, we’d be putting in place a plan to help make those hopes of home ownership realised.”
Ms Reeves also discussed with the Wave team the work they are doing in the community and the effect of rising living costs on members.
They spoke about the need for affordable loans and the benefits of payroll saving and borrowing when household budgets are under immense pressure.
Ms Hickey said: “We were delighted to welcome Rachel Reeves, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, to our office in Hove today.
“We discussed how the ‘cost of living crisis’ is affecting our members and people in our community and the challenges for first-time buyers trying to get on the housing ladder.
“She had already had a good understanding of how community banks and credit unions operate. We were glad to have the opportunity to talk to her about our work in our community. “
