Economic and Taxation Policies: Jobs, Growth and Prosperity

Baroness O'Grady of Upper Holloway Excerpts

Thursday 13th November 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness O’Grady of Upper Holloway (Lab)]

My Lords, we all agree that faster economic growth is the priority, but only Labour has a plan to rebuild our productive base and make sure that the benefits of growth are shared fairly. Just today, we have heard about a magnificent win for the Rolls-Royce workforce with the decision to deliver Britain’s first small nuclear reactor at Wylfa in north Wales. That will create thousands of local jobs and cut energy bills, which, in turn, will attract more investment and more jobs.

Let us think about the support for JLR when a cyberattack cut car production by over a quarter. This Government provided loan guarantees of £1.5 billion that were critical to confidence in supply chains. Had car production not been hit, economic growth would have been doubled. But even so, it was our Government’s readiness to step up and back industry, workers and jobs that saved the day.

The party opposite tries to draw a false trade-off between workers’ rights and jobs. It opposes Labour’s plan for day-one rights to make work pay and to call time on exploitative zero-hours contracts. But under the last Government, insecurity at work soared and living standards slumped to a historic low. That sucked demand out of local economies and was bad for growth. Let us not forget the damage caused by Conservative austerity policies. It is far too soon to try to gloss over the findings of the Covid public inquiry. Our services were left scrambling to meet the challenge, relying on the dedication of shamefully underpaid and overstretched staff.

As recently as 5 June, in a speech to the RSA, shadow Chancellor Mel Stride admitted that the previous Government had failed. He said:

“Many have lost trust in us and many are right to be angry”.


The previous Government’s trickle-down approach to the economy simply did not work for the vast majority of people in this country. Getting into work—getting a job—was no longer a guarantee of freedom from poverty. Many saw their pay packets shrink, while profiteers racked up rents and prices. According to the New Economics Foundation, those on the lowest incomes have faced an effective tax rate of 44% on their income and wealth increases—double that of the richest.

Finally, our economy faces an increasingly volatile world, with Brexit, Covid, conflict, climate change and a global financial sector that can be impulsive, destructive and dedicated to self-interest at the expense of society. As the economist Larry Elliott noted:

“During the global financial crisis of 2008 and the Covid pandemic of 2020, the markets were only bailed out thanks to the willingness of governments to print money and run big budget deficits. There was no talk of the need for the bond market vigilantes to impose financial discipline back then”.


We must defend Labour’s programme to invest and rebuild for the people of this country against future risk. Perhaps my noble friend the Minister can comment on whether, if necessary, consideration should be given to the case for targeted and transparent capital controls to prevent short-term capital movements blowing the economy off course. The Conservative prescription is to shrink the state, slash employment and welfare protection, and let the markets rip. Labour’s remedy must be to rebuild and renew the public realm, raise living standards and make the markets our servant, not our master.