Chancellor’s optimistic economic growth vision hit in the short term as Tesco and Lloyds announce hundreds of job losses and she admits fixing the economy is ‘not an easy job’
Rachel Reeves’s plan for Heathrow to ‘turbocharge’ economy struggles to take off
Rachel Reeves has given her backing to the long-awaited expansion of Heathrow airport as she set out her “optimistic” vision for Britain’s economy with a plan for growth based around building “faster and better”.
However, the chancellor’s upbeat message was almost immediately hit by short-term economic woes, with Tesco cutting 400 jobs and Lloyds announcing the closure of 136 branches. This followed Sainsbury cutting 3,000 jobs last week.
Meanwhile, Durham University has slashed 200 jobs and Cardiff University cut 400 posts in the last 72 hours. The job losses were linked to Ms Reeves’s “anti-growth” hike in national insurance contributions and plans to roll out workers’ rights.
Rachel Reeves’s plan for Heathrow to ‘turbocharge’ economy struggles to take off