Tag: Jonathan Reynolds

  • Jonathan Reynolds – 2022 Speech to Labour Party Conference

    Jonathan Reynolds – 2022 Speech to Labour Party Conference

    The speech made by Jonathan Reynolds on 26 September 2022.

    Conference, thank you for the chance to address you today.

    We meet at a time when the challenges facing our country feel very grave indeed. When you’re worried about how your communities and your families will get through the months ahead.

    I know it is hard to feel optimistic when things are so tough. But serving in this role has given me cause for hope.

    I believe a fresh start with Labour can rebuild this country.

    I’m thinking of the steelworkers I met in Port Talbot who are ready to make the green steel customers want.

    The automotive workers in my hometown of Sunderland who have the skills to make the electric cars we need.

    The scientists I met at Imperial College who have the ideas to solve some of our greatest challenges.

    We’ve got some brilliant people in this country. But what we don’t have is a government committed to a domestic steel sector or to building the battery factories we need.

    We don’t have a government who values the collaboration of scientists across Europe.

    We simply don’t have a government on people’s side.

    That is what we must change.

    There was a time when the Tories believed they were ‘the party of business’. Now they are just in the business of parties.

    After twelve years of misrule, they have failed British business. On their watch business investment is the lowest in the G7, economic growth is set to be the lowest in the G7. We’ve had the worst squeeze to real wages of any country in the G7.

    Don’t just take make my word for it. Ask them. They admit it.

    The new Chancellor said they have presided over a ‘vicious circle of stagnation’. The new Prime Minister said our public services are in a state.

    Frankly, when the Tories find out whose been running this country for the last 12 years, they are going to be furious!

    This is now the big choice in British politics. Everyone agrees the last 12 years have been awful.
    The difference is we choose to look to the future while the Conservatives are dusting off the failed policies of the past.

    In the face of an energy crisis, a business investment crisis, a climate crisis who do they pick to meet these challenges? Jacob Rees-Mogg!

    One newspaper said he was better suited to running a museum than the business department. Frankly, museums are far too important for that.

    Now the Tories want to claim they’ve got the answer to the problems they created – higher bankers bonuses, cuts to corporation tax, ‘deregulation’, picking fights and divisive politics. It won’t work.

    George Osbourne’s cuts to corporation tax didn’t increase business investment and we all know what ‘deregulation’ is code for. Cuts to working people’s rights, cuts to environmental standards so more sewage ends up in our rivers and a race to the bottom which good businesses and working people never win.

    Now I agree with the Tories on one thing – the last 12 years have been a disaster. But while they want to double down on their mistakes we’ve got a real plan to make it better.

    Conference I am pleased to announce today that we are launching Labour’s industrial strategy and it’s a real industrial strategy – with ambition and the means to achieve it.

    Our Industrial Strategy will deliver clean power by 2030, taking the action needed on the climate emergency and keeping good jobs in Britain for decades to come.

    We will harness data for the public good ensuring it isn’t just held by corporate gatekeepers but used to benefit us all.

    We will bolster our national resilience ensuring our supply chains and working people are never again left so exposed to global shocks.

    Finally we will value the care sector for what it is – an essential part of our economy, ending the job insecurity too often associated with this vital work.

    Policies like fair pay agreements will be to the next Labour government what the National Minimum Wage was to the last one.

    And Conference I pledge to you now, there will never, ever be a scandal like P&O Ferries, under a Labour Government.

    Because a proper Industrial strategy, our new deal for working people, our reform of business rates, our targets for greater spending on research and science. These provide the real alternative the country needs.

    Labour knows that is how you grow the economy. Not on the backs of working people or rewarding bad practice. But through vision, leadership and real partnership to make economic success a reality.

    No-one can deny Britain faces significant challenges. But rather than shrink from these challenges, the role of government is to meet them head on.

    Many of you lived through the 80s when Tory Governments left people on their own in the face of massive industrial change.

    We cannot – and we must not – allow this generation of Tories to do the same in response to the challenges we face today.

    Good work, good wages, a fairer, greener future. That is what we can deliver.

    And I ask for your support, to make it happen.

    Thank you, Conference.

  • Jonathan Reynolds – 2022 Speech on Supporting Business

    Jonathan Reynolds – 2022 Speech on Supporting Business

    The speech made by Jonathan Reynolds, the Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, in the House of Commons on 22 September 2022.

    I welcome the new ministerial team to their posts.

    The energy crisis poses a severe challenge to businesses of every size, many of which have been desperate for clarity and reassurance. While the Conservative party spent much of the summer distracted by its own internal drama, the Opposition spent that time arguing that the crisis demands a response commensurate with the scale of the challenge, paid for by a windfall tax on the excess profits that have accrued because of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.

    While I welcome the Government’s damascene conversion to freezing energy prices, we must all acknowledge that for too many companies the news will have come too late to save them. Businesses cannot plan on speculation and briefings. It is regrettable that a Minister who respects the role of Parliament chose to avoid parliamentary scrutiny, instead opting for a sparse press release and a short media interview. That is why the Opposition have tabled this urgent question: to get the much-needed clarity on these plans that businesses desperately need.

    May I ask the Secretary of State what, specifically, the review after three months will be looking at and what the criteria will be for determining whether to extend the support? Secondly, how will the taxpayer be protected from energy traders inflating prices, knowing that the Government will be picking up a substantial slice of the costs come what may? Thirdly, what support will the Secretary of State be offering to businesses in the long term to protect themselves from rising energy costs through efficiency measures and the transition to renewable energy?

    I also ask the Secretary of State to address the elephant in the room: who is paying for this? The Government say that they cannot cost this package, but it is clearly expensive. This Government say that they can cut taxes, increase spending, increase borrowing and magically pay for it through the higher growth that, after 12 years in office, has completely eluded them. This is fantasy economics. It is a threat to British businesses and to the financial stability of the country. What can the Secretary of State say to reassure the country that these plans are robust, responsible and fair, as well as being sufficient to get us through the crisis and better protect businesses in the long term?

  • Jonathan Reynolds – 2022 Speech on Achieving Economic Growth

    Jonathan Reynolds – 2022 Speech on Achieving Economic Growth

    The speech made by Jonathan Reynolds, the Labour MP for Stalybridge and Hyde, in the House of Commons on 18 May 2022.

    It is a real privilege to close the final debate on the Queen’s Speech tonight after more than 30 contributions from colleagues on all sides.

    I want to start with a candid admission of jealousy. Every time I see a Government present a Queen’s Speech I am envious of the right they have to lay out not just one Bill or one measure but a full, comprehensive programme, a chance to address the many issues our country faces. What an opportunity that is. For this Government, with their large majority and now in the delivery stage of this Parliament, what a moment this should be after 12 years in power. The Queen’s Speech should be the crowning glory of everything the Government are about, but can any reasonable person say that it matched that moment, that it seized the opportunities of the future?

    In a list of 38 Bills, we should all be able to find one or two things we like, but can we say that it lives up to the fundamental challenges being faced in homes across the country? Like many Members today, I am moved to ask: is this really it? We selected this debate to outline a vision for the future, but the Government have quite literally sent a vision of the past. The test for the Queen’s Speech was whether it could deliver both the short-term relief and the long-term plan for growth that this country needs, but it has surely failed on both counts.

    Many colleagues mentioned the news that inflation has hit a 40-year high, rising to 9%. It is the highest one-year increase in consumer prices since records began. People are grappling with impossible decisions and they are rightly looking to this place for action. The average energy bill has gone up by more than £1,000 this year. The food shop has gone up by 5%, and the Bank of England has warned of further “apocalyptic” food price rises. Putting petrol in the car has jumped up by £20 a time. Since January, 2 million people in our country have a gone a whole day without eating because they simply cannot afford to do so.

    Those are not just statistics and headlines; they are about real people—our friends, neighbours and constituents. We can do something about it, because these are all symptoms of a much deeper problem. At the heart of the difficulty we face is the fact that our economy has not grown as it should have done since the Conservatives came to power. That is not a contested argument; it is a fact. Economic growth under the Conservatives has been slower than the historical average, and slower than under the last Labour Government. Sadly, this Queen’s Speech showed that the Government cannot, or will not, take the action needed to rectify that.

    In contrast, our position is that our economy can and must do better. We believe that the UK needs greater investment in net zero. We believe that we need a real reform agenda on such things as business rates. We believe that we need a modern industrial strategy that provides a route for every business and worker in this country to fulfil their true potential.

    That ambition, that hunger for change, was shown in my hon. Friends’ contributions. My right hon. Friend the Member for Leeds Central (Hilary Benn) talked about the urgent need to overcome the problems that UK businesses are having exporting into the single market. My hon. Friends the Members for Nottingham East (Nadia Whittome) and for Slough (Mr Dhesi) talked about job security being essential to wellbeing, yet the employment Bill is nowhere to be seen. My hon. Friend the Member for Aberavon (Stephen Kinnock) talked of the new opportunities available to manufacturing and the need for private investment in the UK to capitalise on them. My hon. Friend the Member for Batley and Spen (Kim Leadbeater) called for transformational, bold thinking and gave examples from her constituency about what the contemporary situation means. My hon. Friend the Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant), in perhaps the phrase of the debate, called this more of a “gracious intervention” than a Gracious Speech, and he is surely right.

    Even among Government Members, the frustrations were evident. The right hon. Member for Ashford (Damian Green) raised legitimate points about the media Bill and the creative industries. The hon. Member for Rugby (Mark Pawsey) asked why the audit reform Bill is just in draft form when it is supposed to be a priority. The hon. Member for Thirsk and Malton (Kevin Hollinrake) again admirably raised points about small business lending, and he was right to do so. Lots of Government Members, including the right hon. Members for Gainsborough (Sir Edward Leigh) and for Epsom and Ewell (Chris Grayling) and the hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire (Anthony Browne), pointed out that taxes on working people are too high. They are very high under this Government.

    From listening to the whole debate, it seemed to me that with the Government having had a policy to cut corporation tax, which they have now abandoned; having tried an embryonic industrial strategy, which has now been abandoned; having tried austerity, which was originally a growth policy, not just a necessity, and has since been recognised as having gone too far; and having had the super deduction, which has been and gone, there are no big ideas left on the Conservative side of the House at a time when we really need them.

    The first line of the Queen’s Speech could, and should, have been: “We will introduce an emergency Budget to offer relief to families and firms struggling with the cost of living crisis.” Instead, we have the Prime Minister saying that he is neither in favour of nor against a windfall tax, and the Business Secretary saying that he is ruling it out, but that everything is still on the table; then we have the Prime Minister telling us to expect action on the cost of living soon, and the Treasury telling us to expect action on the cost of living never. The truth is that families and households across this country do not need lessons in budgeting or cookery classes. They need help dealing with challenges that are too big for individuals to have to deal with alone.

    All Opposition Members are asking for is action commensurate with the scale of the challenge. That means an emergency Budget with a one-off windfall tax on oil and gas profits to cut household bills; a tax cut for small businesses, saving pubs and shops up to £5,000 this year; and a contingency fund to keep energy-intensive industries competitive, so that for instance we could keep open fertiliser factories that are currently closed, meaning that we would not see further food price inflation into next year because of inaction now. These are real proposals for real action now, because if we wait until October, and if business confidence continues to fall and inflation continues to rise, already hard decisions will become even harder.

    What frustrates me is that despite all this, we are a country with such incredible potential. We have an amazing, cutting-edge business sector, with industries up and down the country. As shadow Business Secretary it is a privilege to go and see those firms for myself. In the past few months, I have had the opportunity to see electric cars being manufactured in Sunderland and green hydrogen in Sheffield. I was with a new generation of entrepreneurs at Leeds Business School last week: they were buzzing with ideas and innovations that would boost our economy.

    Britain is a great country to work and do business, so why should we accept projections of weak growth and poor productivity, with ever higher taxes as a result? We know how good Britain can be, but over the past 12 years the Conservatives have failed to capture that potential, and future projections are no better. In this debate, several Conservative MPs said that international forces beyond their control, such as global commodity prices or the conflict in Ukraine, were to blame. That claim just does not stand up to scrutiny. Conservatives have been in power for 12 years. Low growth took hold long before the international events that we are concerned about, which is why the Government have had to raise taxes on working people to historic levels. The IMF says that the only country in the G20 that will grow at a slower rate than us is Russia, yet all the Government have to offer is more of the same.

    The Opposition are clear that a plan for economic growth must offer good jobs—high-skill, high-wage, secure jobs across the country, jobs that people can raise their family on. Hon. Members rightly raised the absence from the Queen’s Speech of the employment Bill, which was a general election promise in 2019 and has since been promised an additional 20 times. What is it about flexible working rights, banning fire and rehire and sorting out sick pay that the Government are so afraid of? I still have not heard from anybody an explanation for why the employment Bill was not included. The treatment of people at P&O Ferries was not just a scandal; it was immoral. As a pro-business, pro-worker party, we stand proud in saying that better employment rights are a key part of our economic plan for Britain.

    This country is crying out for a serious plan to break the cycle of low growth, low productivity and high taxes. We have that plan: an industrial strategy built on a partnership between employers and workers; catalytic public investment of £28 billion every year to build the industries and jobs of the future; reform of business taxation to encourage long-term, sustainable growth; increased investment in research and development; and buying, making and selling more in the UK. That is the action needed to grow our economy, drive up living standards and fund the public services that this country so desperately needs.

    The Queen’s Speech just does not meet the moment. We have to ask: if this Government have so little to offer in the face of such tumultuous events, what is the point of this Government? Away from all the bluster and boosterism, the fact is that they have wasted the mandate that they received, and frankly the British people will not forgive them for it. Leadership, vision and optimism are what is required.

    The opportunity to present a Queen’s Speech is an immense privilege, and the circumstances that we live in made this Queen’s Speech a particular responsibility. It required nothing less than short-term relief and hope for the future, but the Government have been unable to provide either. It is clear that this country will not get the Queen’s Speech that it really deserves until Labour has the chance to write it.

  • Jonathan Reynolds – 2022 Speech on the Labour Party and Business

    Jonathan Reynolds – 2022 Speech on the Labour Party and Business

    The speech made by Jonathan Reynolds, the Shadow Business Secretary, on 10 February 2022.

    Good morning, and thank you all for making the time to come here today.

    There is a lot of talk at the moment about the Government falling apart.

    But, we know on our side, that the test of whether there is a Labour Government after the next election, rests not on the dysfunction of the Government, but on the positive agenda we will put forward.

    That is what I want to talk to you about today.

    Can I thank you Bob for those kind words of introduction, and UK Finance for hosting us today.

    To be appointed as Labour’s Business Spokesperson is a job I have always wanted, and I intend to make the absolute most of it.

    I loved my time working as the Shadow Economic Secretary and the relationships that I built doing that.

    But this job is also a personal one for me.

    I’ve grown up and lived in the places that felt the big industrial changes of the 1980s and 90s.

    I’m talking about Sunderland, where I was born and went to school, and Tameside in Manchester, where I’ve lived my adult life and which I represent in Parliament.

    But many of you are from or know places like these.

    I don’t like the phrase ‘Red Wall’, but there’s a reason that term has been so widely adopted

    It encompasses an important feeling held by many

    That they have lost out to industrial change.

    But whatever phrase you want to use, the challenge for any Government in areas like Sunderland or Tameside or in any part of the country is how to create and keep good jobs in the area.

    How to build industries that will last into the future and succeed across the world

    And I think that the personal experience and knowledge that I have, is an asset in trying to do that.

    Business needs, and deserves, a partner in Government that can deliver those opportunities

    That is not what we’re getting from the Government at the moment.

    Where they have failed to show leadership, Labour is ready

    What I what to set out to you today, are our plans for that partnership with business

    the political economy a future Labour Government would adopt;

    and why we believe these are essential to the next Labour Government achieving its goals.

    I want to start with a candid recognition that Labour’s relationship with business hasn’t been as good as it should have been over the last decade.

    Labour’s good relationship with business was once known as the ‘the prawn cocktail offensive’.

    Many of you have told me that in the last few years, you felt it was just plain ‘offensive’.

    I understand that.

    But let me tell you how I see things.

    82% of all the jobs in this country are in the private sector.

    Unless any political party has a clear plan for making sure successful businesses are founded, and growing, in every part of the country, they won’t be a successful government.

    At any time in the last 11 years that I have been an MP for, if anyone contacted me to say they might potentially be looking to bring jobs, and growth and opportunities to my constituency, I would drop everything and try make that happen.

    My approach as Business Secretary, would be no different on a national level to that local ambition.

    That’s what I mean when I say Labour is now a pro-business, pro-worker, political party.

    A real example of that approach by the way, can be found in the life and tributes paid to my late friend Jack Dromey.

    Jack was my Pensions spokesperson when I shadowed the DWP.

    Jack fought for good jobs and working conditions his whole life, but he was also a champion of British manufacturing, British engineering and British industry as a whole.

    The most moving tributes to him, came not just from the trade unions and the TUC., but also from trade bodies and business leaders.

    And we miss him a great deal.

    Let me be clear, wanting businesses to succeed does not mean accepting, or cosying up, to people nobody should want to get cosy too.

    I was a member of the Business Select Committee when we did an investigation into Sports Direct.

    It got a lot of attention at the time and rightly so.

    I will never accept the exploitation or abuse of working people.

    But I know the vast majority of businesses don’t accept these things either.

    The overwhelming majority of successful businesses are successful because they care about their workforce, their customers, and the communities they are part of.

    So when I say that a future Labour Government believes a strong relationship with business is essential,

    It’s not positioning,

    It’s not messaging,

    Its not moving away from traditional Labour values of fairness and equality –

    it’s a recognition of what is really required to deliver those values in practice.

    But I also want to say something else.

    Which is that being pro-business does not mean you’re for the status quo.

    That somehow you don’t have ambitions to change things, to shake things up.

    I’m not happy with our performance as a country.

    Far from it.

    I think this country needs a significant change of direction to deliver the kind of living standards and public services we all rightly expect.

    The state of the economy, right now, under the Conservatives is as alarming as it possibly could be.

    Almost every economic indicator is heading in the wrong direction.

    Growth is weak;

    Productivity is appalling;

    Inflation is high;

    Poverty and inequality are rising;

    And for most workers the promise of rising wages post-Brexit has simply not happened.

    The only way to higher wages, is better productivity. It was facile of the Government to believe it could get there, simply by restricting freedom of movement.

    We’ve left the Single Market, increasing costs for a lot of UK businesses, with little by way of mitigation.

    And we can’t move on as quickly as we should, because the Government claims it didn’t understand what its own deal meant for Northern Ireland.

    And in response to these significant issues, the Prime Minister doesn’t even feel the need to do some basic preparation, before he makes a keynote speech to the CBI.

    So the status quo should satisfy nobody.

    I believe the UK needs big reforms to turn this position around.

    And my offer to businesses is work with us on this reform agenda to do exactly that.

    Thanks to my colleagues in the shadow cabinet, we have already started this work.

    Firstly, Rachel Reeves’ pledge to replace business rates not only means a fairer split between bricks and clicks, but that we will use the proceeds from an increase in the Digital Services Tax, and then the global minimum corporation tax agreement, to make business taxation fairer, more transparent, and more supportive of investment and entrepreneurship.

    This is especially true for smaller businesses, of which more will be exempt entirely due to our proposed rise in the threshold for small business rates relief.

    Secondly, our climate investment pledge means we can offer to partner with businesses to deliver net zero.

    A great example of this is our plan for Green Steel, where we would provide the capital investment to make steel produced in the UK greener and more competitive with the rest of the world.

    This to me is what sound industrial policy looks like.

    Not picking winners

    but the public and private sectors working together to meet clear public policy objectives in a transparent, cost-effective way.

    This is the political economy a Labour Government would operate.

    My aspiration is that the next Labour manifesto will be packed with pledges on science, investment, rates reform, skills, and infrastructure that will provide the foundation for a new era of prosperity and national success.

    And that means taking a longer view than just one Parliament or election cycle.

    It means embedding a new consensus in our law and corporate governance that ensures businesses have the certainty they need to invest for the long term.

    That means bringing back an Industrial Strategy, and giving it a solid, statutory, institutional footing so businesses know the fundamentals will continue from one Govt to the next.

    It means increasing R&D spend to 3% of GDP

    And it means ensuring the balance is right between returning value to shareholders and businesses being able to invest for long term success.

    To conclude, I believe the view of business I’ve just outlined is rooted in Labour’s values

    And I believe those values are shared by business

    At the start of the year Keir laid out his contract with the British people, based on: security, prosperity, respect.

    Business provides security, for individuals and families and the communities they are part of.

    Business generates prosperity, and it could generate a lot more with a better government.

    That’s why you, and the people you employ, will always have my respect.

    Already, in the first few weeks of this job, I’ve been able to get out and see some incredible things we are doing in the UK.

    Electric cars in Sunderland, new innovative glass products in St Helens, Hydrogen being made in Sheffield.

    Things that are truly world class, and genuinely exciting for the future.

    With success like that, there is no reason why the UK should be looking at forecasts of anaemic growth, poor productivity, and ever higher taxes on working people.

    I believe we can do better.

    And our best days are ahead of us.

    And I look forward to our partnership to make that happen.

    Thank you.

  • Jonathan Reynolds – 2022 Comments on Government’s Help to Grow Scheme

    Jonathan Reynolds – 2022 Comments on Government’s Help to Grow Scheme

    The comments made by Jonathan Reynolds, the Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Industrial Strategy, on 19 January 2022.

    The Conservatives have become a high tax party because they are a low growth Government.

    The Prime Minister is too mired in scandal to lead. Energy bills are going up, inflation is up and wages are stalling because the Government are asleep at the wheel.

    Labour would save most households £200 or more on their energy bills and get our economy firing on all cylinders with our plan to buy, make and sell more in Britain.

  • Jonathan Reynolds – 2021 Comments on Help for British Businesses

    Jonathan Reynolds – 2021 Comments on Help for British Businesses

    The comments made by Jonathan Reynolds, the Shadow Business Secretary, on 17 December 2021.

    Every day the Chancellor is missing in action is an insult to the British businesses and workers who have struggled to get to this point.

    They are now facing closure by stealth from a Government without the authority to take the public health measures required and back it up with economic support.

    Firms are clear in their message to Government, they need help now not just warm words. Labour backs British business and workers with our plans to fix sick pay, ease the burden of debt repayments and cut business rates for small businesses.

  • Jonathan Reynolds – 2021 Comments on the ONS Labour Market Statistics

    Jonathan Reynolds – 2021 Comments on the ONS Labour Market Statistics

    The comments made by Jonathan Reynolds, the Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, on 12 October 2021.

    Long term unemployment remains persistent and the Government’s Plan for Jobs has done nothing to alleviate supply shortages or prepare for the future.

    Families and businesses are facing an energy crisis, shortages and price rises because of this Government’s poor decisions and lack of planning. And now working people are being hammered by tax hikes and cuts to Universal Credit.

    Our country faces a difficult winter and people need a government on their side, not the complacency and chaos of the Conservatives.

  • Jonathan Reynolds – 2021 Comments on Government’s Plan for Jobs Expansion

    Jonathan Reynolds – 2021 Comments on Government’s Plan for Jobs Expansion

    The comments made by Jonathan Reynolds, the Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, on 3 October 2021.

    The Government’s struggling Plan for Jobs has failed to hit its original targets; it is not creating the number of jobs needed and has failed to address the supply chain crisis Britain is experiencing.

    Giving himself an extended deadline will do nothing to compensate for the Chancellor’s tax rises, cost of living crisis and cuts to Universal Credit which are set to hammer millions of working families.

    Labour would create new jobs with our plan to buy, make and sell more in Britain to get our economy firing on all cylinders.

  • Jonathan Reynolds – 2021 Comments on Cuts to Universal Credit

    Jonathan Reynolds – 2021 Comments on Cuts to Universal Credit

    The comments made by Jonathan Reynolds, the Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, on 13 September 2021.

    The Secretary of State’s comments this morning were an insult to hard working families facing this cut. One in 14 British workers will lose out, including 660,000 key workers.

    Her own government’s analysis revealed this cut would be ‘catastrophic’ leading to more poverty, more debt and an increased risk of homelessness.

    Labour will force a vote this week to give every MP the chance to back struggling families and cancel this cut.

  • Jonathan Reynolds – 2021 Comments on Proposed Cuts to Universal Credit

    Jonathan Reynolds – 2021 Comments on Proposed Cuts to Universal Credit

    The comments made by Jonathan Reynolds, the Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, on 10 September 2021.

    The Conservatives have been warned repeatedly about the impact this cut will have on people’s incomes. The Government’s own analysis of this cut was that it would be ‘catastrophic’, but still it’s pushing ahead.

    Andy Street and Conservative MPs should stick up for their constituents and local economies and get on the phone to Boris Johnson to tell him to cancel their cut to Universal Credit.