- Sir Keir ordered his Shadow Cabinet to make growth the theme of conference
The ghost of Liz Truss will haunt the Labour Party conference this week, after Sir Keir Starmer ordered his Shadow Cabinet to make growth the theme of the gathering in Liverpool.
A source said that every frontbencher had been told to promote the idea in their speeches.
To reinforce the idea – which is designed to steal the Tories’ clothes as the party which can be trusted with the economy – Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves will hold a private reception for 50 chief executives at the conference.
One Tory Minister told The Mail on Sunday: ‘Business has had it with us. Our party conference was the last straw: U-turns on Net Zero and HS2 have led the corporates to say, ‘We just can’t trust you guys any more. We’ll take our chances with Labour.’
A senior Labour aide said: ‘Business leaders have been pretty upfront. They’ve said, ‘Look, we know you won’t necessarily be in the same place as us on every tax and regulatory issue but we don’t really care. What we need from you is consistency.’
The businesses have been carefully vetted by Labour strategists to prioritise those ‘most acceptable’ to the party and the wider electorate, such as green technology firms. ‘You won’t see them shaking hands with any corporate raiders or cigarette companies,’ said a source.
It comes after former prime minister Ms Truss, left, irritated Downing Street by holding a ‘growth rally’ at the Tory Party conference. Ms Truss, whose pro-growth mini-budget crashed the markets and led to her exit from No 10 last year, told delegates that the Government should cut taxes and build 500,000 new houses every year.
She was introduced as the members’ choice, ‘unlike the current Prime Minister’. A source close to her said: ‘Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.’
