The comments made by Stephen Kinnock, the Minister of State for Care, on 20 May 2026.
Ever since I was appointed Minister of State for Care in July 2024, NHS staff have been telling me that the current fit note system isn’t working – not for patients, and not for the clinicians who sign them off.
These pilots mark the beginning of the end for that broken system, giving people personalised support to get back into work and freeing up GPs from unnecessary admin so they can focus on what they do best: caring for their patients.
This is what our 10 Year Health Plan is all about – earlier support, from the right people, in the right place.
The comments made by Pat McFadden, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on 20 May 2026.
Fit notes are too often a dead end – a piece of paper that tells people they can’t work but does nothing to help them get better.
We’re changing that. By bringing employers, the NHS, and patients together we can help people recover faster, stay connected to their jobs, and get the economy firing on all cylinders.
That’s what these pilots are about, and that’s what this Government is committed to – fixing what is broken.
The comments made by Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, on 20 May 2026.
We stand with the infected blood community to bear witness to the lives lost and those changed forever. As a nation, we must ensure the lessons of this scandal are never forgotten.
I pay tribute to their extraordinary courage and dignity in their long fight for truth and justice, and extend my sincere thanks to the Infected Blood Memorial Committee for the care, compassion and dedication behind this service.
The comments made by Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, on 20 May 2026.
I’m keeping taxes down for drivers and businesses – putting money in the pockets of millions of workers and cutting costs for farmers and hauliers.
The war in Iran is pushing up fuel prices here at home but after strong growth at the beginning of the year, I am stepping in to protect people at the pump
By protecting households and businesses we are building a stronger and more secure economy for Britain. That is the right economic plan.
The comments made by Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, on 20 May 2026.
I know many are feeling the pressure of energy and fuel costs, and are worried about how the conflict in Iran will affect their finances. Because when global events drive up prices, it’s working people who feel it first.
That’s why this government is stepping in to keep fuel costs down for millions of drivers and putting money back in the pockets of working people.
The speech made by David Lammy, the Deputy Prime Minister, on 19 May 2026.
First, let me thank the fantastic panellists that we’ve just heard speak so powerfully over the past few hours on this important issue: Shifting the Power.
Whether on the border of Sudan as Foreign Secretary, visiting Sri Lanka as Deputy Prime Minister or welcoming Global South leaders to the UK from across the world what’s clear is that the 1997 style approach to international development no longer works.
Global South partners feel the overlapping crises, the shocks and the creaking of the system the hardest.
We are living through a “Great Remaking”. In a changing international order, many powers are shaping this multipolar age, and so our status quo is not fit for purpose.
We are changing our approach. Moving from the paternalism of the past to the partnerships of the future and championing the reforms required across the system.
Making it fairer, more impactful and unblocking the finance needed to turbocharge development and climate action.
It’s fantastic to see that under my dear colleague Yvette Cooper and the wonderful Baroness Chapman this work has only grown in importance – look at us all here today. But as we’ve just heard, there is much more we must do together.
Why shifting power matters
As an international community, too often we have failed in our primary task: to work in genuine partnership. Not focussed on handouts. But on shared growth.
We know that when those most greatly affected shape the solutions, decisions carry greater legitimacy, outcomes endure, and our collective impact is stronger.
As the Foreign Secretary outlined earlier, we have a responsibility to make this right, but also an interest in doing so.
As Deputy Prime Minister, I know all too well that growth, tackling the climate crisis, and the health of our citizens cannot be separated from international shocks and crises.
Because as we’ve seen all too clearly in recent years, instabilities and crises across the world have a direct impact on us here at home. From the effects of COVID-19, which continue of course to reverberate, to the floods and extreme weather that damage our towns and cities, all of it costing billions of pounds. To the impacts of global economic shocks on the cost of living. If we are to shift course, we must see a genuine shift in approach; and a genuine shift in power.
Principles for modern partnerships
We’ve heard loud and clear over these two plenary sessions a rallying cry for a central organising principle: that countries’ and communities’ own aspirations, plans and priorities must be at the heart of development cooperation.
What are the three key things we have heard we can collectively do to turn this principle into practice?
Supporting country-led development
First, we must work alongside partners as they set their own agendas, aligning our support and finance behind their aspirations for their own development.
It means coordinating behind country platforms, where countries choose them, to align support with national priorities.
It means co-creating, co-designing and co-deciding solutions as best and standard practice, where partners determine what, where and how development resources are used.
That’s why the UK wholeheartedly endorses the Call to Action to all development actors to accelerate support for locally led development, and we encourage you to join us.
Taking a whole society approach
Second, that we need to take a whole of society approach. From government to the private sector to philanthropy to civil society, including the most marginalised voices. To support the changes that countries and communities want to see.
This Government has always believed in a feminist approach to international development and foreign policy. Women and girls – in all their diversity – and women’s rights organisations as drivers of change and progress, essential to growth, peace and stability.
That’s why I commend the work of Yvette Cooper. With her leadership, the UK has made this a standalone foreign policy priority.
Building self-sufficiency and economic resilience
And finally, to deliver this, we must support partners in building self-sufficiency and fiscal resilience.
We need to redouble our efforts to ensure countries can mobilise their own finance, spend well, borrow responsibly and manage shocks effectively, to build sustainable economies.
Control over finances is control over sovereignty.
This means tackling illicit finance and corruption. Which I see as one of the great progressive causes of our times.
Illicit financial flows are estimated to total between 800 billion dollars and 2 trillion dollars every year, that’s around 2–5% of global GDP.
This is money that should be in the hands of citizens, ordinary people supporting their public services.
Instead, it lines the pockets of kleptocrats, their cronies and funds their luxury homes in capitals like this one, here in London.
Together we must move beyond an agenda simply focussed on transparency and end the era of impunity for those exploiting developing nations for their own ill-gotten gains.
It also means mobilising more private capital and the City of London is a hub of green finance and we want it to become a hub of global development finance too.
So we are working with senior leaders from across the investment community to address practical barriers to scaling investment in developing countries.
This, to me, exemplifies a move towards building genuine partnerships, new coalitions that deliver growth and opportunity for citizens here and abroad.
Reforming the international system
But none of this will be enough if we don’t also work together to change the global development system.
You will have heard from many leaders and those championing reform initiatives over the course of today; and it is clear there are already some key areas of momentum.
Greater Global South representation
First, that we must address the injustice at the heart of the system for ensuring Global South voice, that’s representative has influence and a meaningful seat at the table.
Yvette Cooper set out earlier today how the UK is working in partnership to champion this shift across the system. Whether that’s ensuring greater voice across the debt architecture through the new Borrowers’ Platform, co-chairing the current World Bank Shareholding Review, reforming the UN Security Council to include permanent representation from the African continent, India, Germany, Brazil and Japan or ensuring the OECD DAC Reform Review keeps pace with the scale of the changes to the development partnership and finance landscape. We are proud to play our part.
Building a more coordinated development system
Second, it is clear that institutions and actors must work better as a system, to get behind the aspirations of countries and communities.
Working together should be the starting point, systemic and not ad hoc.
That means going further and faster on essential reforms to support genuine collaboration between development banks, climate funds, and other institutions. Bringing together finance, expertise, and implementation at scale.
Climate and development
Third, we must prioritise and protect the parts of the system that protect us. There is no development without climate action and no climate action without development. They are two sides of the same coin.
At all levels of government, the UK remains relentlessly focused on addressing this defining global challenge. The transition to a resilient, nature positive, clean powered global economy is the growth opportunity of the 21st century.
We will not succeed in tackling the climate and nature crisis, or delivering resilient, sustainable growth, without reforming the full development and climate ecosystem.
We need a climate and nature finance architecture that works faster, smarter and more effectively. We need to mobilise more finance from all sources whilst delivering a step change in access to ensure funding reaches the poorest and most vulnerable and we need to ensure funding reaches communities on the ground and that marginalised groups are at the centre of decision making.
This is proven to deliver stronger, more effective resilience – it needs to be at the core to shifting the power.
That is why we have always supported the vision of Least Development Countries to get more finance and decision-making power flowing to locally led climate action and to communities on the front line.
Looking ahead
Finally, that we must look ahead to the system we need for the future, and define that future together:
We as politicians, as leaders, must take greater responsibility to set out a common vision.
To re-inspire hope that we can tackle the collective challenges we face, for the betterment of my citizens and yours.
As we’ve heard today, there is much more to do on this agenda to deliver a true paradigm shift.
But we are committed, as partners, as reformers, to stay the course. What do we know?
We know that relationships grounded in old hierarchies no longer work and instead we need to base our relationships on mutual respect as equals. So how do we get there?
We know there is more to do. But when I look around this room, I see people, governments and organisations that are committed to do the work to realise our ambitions.
We are not all the same of course. We do not agree on everything. But together, we can build new coalitions which give us all a seat at the table.
We must take the discussions of this week and turn them into concrete actions. It is about restoring confidence that cooperation can deliver. This is what shifting the power means in practice; more trust, more legitimacy, more impact.
The comments made by Ellie Reeves, the Attorney General, on 19 May 2026.
Adam Leddra is a dangerous sexual predator. He knew his victim was only a teenager but completely disregarded her age, preying on her vulnerabilities to unleash some of the most horrific sexual abuse.
I welcome the court’s decision to increase his prison sentence and protect any more victims from harm. I want to commend the victim’s bravery for coming forward to help bring this perpetrator to justice.
The speech made by Yvette Cooper, the Foreign Secretary, in London on 19 May 2026.
Thank you very much. It is a great pleasure to be able to welcome everyone at here, in London, for the Global Partnerships Conference, and a huge pleasure, especially to be able to co-host this conference with South Africa, just as our two countries worked together last year on the replenishment of the Global Fund, helping to secure over £11 billion pounds in pledges to fight aids, tuberculosis, and malaria. And it is a pleasure, too, to co-host with the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation and British International Investment – the pioneering organisations that have done so much to advance the priorities that we all share.
This conference was designed to be a bit different from the normal international ministerial events that we hold. And so, I just wanted to start by acknowledging the incredible range of depth of experience, of expertise in this room and around this conference centre. From civil society, youth activists, major investors, philanthropists, tech entrepreneurs, experience of development past and ideas and interests for the future. The collective wisdom and insight that we need to harness together in the face of the most unprecedented global challenges. And I know that there’s many individuals, organisations, in this conference, who have long standing commitments to lifting people, communities, and countries out of poverty. And we’ve seen huge progress as a result of that incredible dedication. Over one and a half billion people, worldwide, lifted out of extreme poverty in recent decades. Healthy life expectancy around the world increased by over five years in just a decade. Over 100 million more children going to school, and nations benefitting from stronger job creation and growth. And as the British Foreign Secretary, I’m proud that the UK has played its part in that story of transformation, working with partner governments, and with many of you here today. And as we look forward now, as many of those same values that have underpinned that progress are enduring. Our sense of our shared humanity, that fundamental moral purpose to stand up against global disease and hunger, and to support those trapped in crises caused by conflict or climate change. And the deep distress we share, and injustice, and unfair inequalities that hold people back.
But we are here today because we know that change is needed. Because we know we need to do things differently. At a time when our world is more volatile, more contested, more unstable, than ever, and when our multilateral system is under strain. And we meet against the backdrop of the Strait of Hormuz crisis. A strait of water through which 90 ships a day used to pass but for the last three months, it’s been more like five. Heating oil for Asia, stuck in the Strait, fertilisers for Africa, stuck in the Strait, 20,000 seafarers, 800 ships just stuck in the Strait. The price effects felt on the other side of the world. The global economy is being held hostage and the global South is paying the biggest price. It’s affecting the planting season, too. The agricultural clock is ticking, and damage is already being done that will affect crop yields and food prices well into next year. As the World Food Programme has warned, some 45 million people in the global South are at risk of being pushed into acute hunger this year. The world risks sleepwalking into a global food crisis. And we cannot risk tens of millions of people going hungry because Iran has hijacked an international shipping lane.
And so that is why we need to act together in our response. The World Bank, the IMF, other institutions have an unparallelled ability to deliver emergency finance at a scale that’s needed to cushion the immediate impacts of the crisis. And with others, the UK has been using our voice and shareholder role to press for a step change in response, coordinated across the global financial system. We need faster coordinated action, multilateral development banks operating as a coherent whole, not just in parallel, aligned programming, quicker disbursement, specific support. to fertiliser markets, working closely with UN agencies. And with the World Food Programme, we’re already helping preposition food supplies, because we have to get ahead of the risks, not wait for the suffering to unfold before us.
But aid can’t operate alone. And that’s why Britain has led diplomatic efforts to press for the immediate reopening of the Strait, convening partners to defend the principle of the law of the sea, and why we’re preparing alongside France, a multilateral maritime mission to reassure shipping and get to trade moving when an agreement is in place, and supporting the negotiations, to fully reopen the Strait, free from restrictions and tolls, to get the global economy moving again. But the Hormuz crisis holds up a mirror to our wider challenges. This shows the importance of acting early and in partnership to mobilise support. The importance of political and policy responses to tackle the causes of crises, not just to mitigate their impacts. The importance of the rule of law. In this case, freedom of navigation, for prosperity and development, not just for order and stability. And the urgent need to address the underlying weaknesses in our economic resilience and our precarious food and energy security.
For us in the UK, that means, first and foremost, accelerating the clean energy transition. Instead of the fossil fuel roller coaster, the security independence. An economy of British owned renewable energy. Because renewable energy can’t get stuck in the Strait of Hormuz and can’t be hijacked by hostile states. This is a choice we are making for ourselves, but it is also true for many other countries as well. And so, in responding to this crisis, we should be turbocharging that shift, and it’s why I’m so pleased that we can announce today the BII’s investment, the British International Investment, additional investment, to deliver over £4.6 billion of climate investment in emerging markets to support the green transition, and to build energy security, too.
The reason that this matters is because the Strait of Hormuz is no outlier. Coming so soon after the energy price shock, the grain supply threats when Russia invaded Ukraine, or the supply chain crisis in COVID. This reflects a new era of geopolitics and geoeconomics, an era of global great power competition and global volatility, but also concurrent crises, from conflict, climate, from communicable disease. Where our interconnected world that has helped lift nations out of poverty and drive growth is turned against us to become a source of great vulnerability. At a time when violent conflict is on the rise around the world and greater than any time since the Second World War. And we’ve seen new levels and patterns of displacement and migration, tied also often to climate change as extreme weather and record temperatures destroy livelihoods. And also the new uncertainties from the pace of technological change. As AI, frontier technologies offer profound potential to give us new solutions around healthcare, around development, around economic growth. But also real risks of compounding global injustice and insecurity unless we respond. And, of course, a multilateral system in need of reform. At a time when development budgets in many donor countries, including here in the UK, are under financial strain or facing reductions.
So, in the face of these challenges, bold new approaches are needed, and we need to be honest that as well as keeping up with changing times, we need to address some of the deficiencies in some of the traditional ways we’ve done development in the past. The external blueprints, the paternalism, the policies that increased dependency rather than building resilience, and the reflex to act for others, rather than getting firmly behind local needs and priorities. So, as part of the UK’s response, we’ve held honest exchanges with partners about what we should do differently. And heard clearly the need and the demand for greater voice and agencies, for countries and communities to shape decisions that affect them, including global institutions and the global financial system.
As Mia Motley, the farsighted Prime Minister of Barbados has put it, seats at the table of decision making, where we can be seen, heard, become active agents in our own cause and lead our own development. And that lies behind the shifts that my friend and fellow minister, Baroness Jenny Chapman, has been leading in our UK development approach, as she will set out to you earlier this morning. Moving from donor to investor, from grants to expertise, putting partnership, and the focus on local needs at the centre of what we do, and putting those shifts hardwired into this conference today and tomorrow. Because the framing is about partnerships. Collective action on common challenges, on mutual respect, learning, and accountability. And a joint document that is not about traditional aid pledges, but about focussing on mobilising finance technology and new coalitions. And I want to pay tribute to Jenny and the FCDO team for bringing this event together.
So let me just then highlight three areas of what this looks like. On development finance, shifting the centre of gravity from traditional measures around public funding towards mobilising much wider investments and different forms of capital investment and support. For example, developing local capital markets to attract and allocate finance effectively, as we’ve done in Ethiopia, through support to their first public stock exchange, so that Ethiopian companies can tap into new funding. With UK Insurance sector, pioneering new private partnerships, that can help countries respond more quickly and effectively to natural disasters. And working through the most impactful bits of the multilateral system, such as the World Bank’s International Development Association, where every pound we invest unlocks four pounds of additional finance. Whilst backing calls for the reforms of the global financial system, including by tackling unsustainable debt, through expanding the common framework, and making it meet countries’ needs more quickly. We’re backing through Africa’s institutions to raise far more funding at scale. With our 650-million-pound contribution to the African development fund, helping leverage in up to 1.6 billion in grants and concessional loans, including issuing bonds on the London Stock Exchange for the first time. And moving from into also providing expertise, such as the tax advice that has helped Ghana, generate, an additional 100 million in revenue to invest in its own education and health priorities, far more than a traditional UK aid programme could have provided.
The second shift is to make sure we focus. our humanitarian and grant aid on the countries and the communities that need support most. Conflict is now one of the biggest drivers of extreme poverty across the world. Already over half of extreme poverty is concentrated in conflict affected, fragile states. And so, alongside our aid allocations to areas like Sudan and Lebanon, Palestine, were prioritising conflict resolution in each of those areas too. A focus that also supports our interest because conflicts that rage unresolved radiate instability across regions and continents. And it’s in our collective interest to support global health too. When we see the Ebola outbreak spread in and around the DRC, flagged by the WHO as being of clear international concern. And we also need a reset of the whole humanitarian system, as proposed, by UN Humanitarian Chief, Tom Fletcher, and organisations like the International Rescue Committee, rigorous prioritisation and shifting the power and resources to local partners that really understand the local contexts and needs. And UN reform, too, to help the UN play its indispensable role, to be more efficient, or effective and coherent, refocused on the core priorities and results in line with the UN 80 reform initiative.
But finally, I want to mention a further focus. that is about our values and also our shared interests. Because amidst the plethora of global emergencies, we can risk neglecting one that blights the safety and prosperity, equality, and freedom of half the world, including here in the UK. And that’s why the UK government has made tackling violence against women and girls a national mission. setting an unprecedented mission, a push to harm violence against women and girls in the UK in a decade. But we believe it also needs to be a global focus. Because at a time when one in every three women and girls, worldwide, will experience physical or sexual violence, these are not simply the statistics, but life scarred and generations that can bear those scars. And having heard firsthand on the Sudan-Chad border earlier this year, in Adre, some of the most harrowing stories of rape and sexual violence. We know that that kind of violence can pass through and scar whole generations and communities for years to come. And so tomorrow, here at this conference, we will say more about our upcoming international campaign, and the new coalition we seek to build involving multiple countries here at this conference.
So, in closing, let me thank you for being here and for all the discussions and the conversations about this event. This part of London is no stranger to being the basis for international cooperation. We’re holding this conference just a couple of miles from Greenwich’s Royal Observatory, from which the world agreed how to measure time. And that agreement, to create a single primary meridian, unlocked cooperation on trade or commerce, on global interactions. And here today, in a different time, on different terms, as an international community, with states, company, civil society, all represented, we’re discussing, again, the cooperation on the critical issues that will shape the coming decades, signing our jointly endorsed, Global Partnerships Compact. And I hope this shared endeavour that will carry us forward, whether it’s at the Hamburg Sustainability Conference, the multilateral events, or into the UK’s G20 presidency next year. Let me finish where I started, with the potential interest of all of those here, from so many different countries and backgrounds, to bring those partnerships across the world and across our communities together. For a world free from poverty, on a liveable planet, because we know it’s the partnerships that we build across the world, that make each and every one of us stronger at home.
The statement made by Heidi Alexander, the Secretary of State for Transport, in the House of Commons on 19 May 2026.
Overview
Today, alongside my oral statement in the House, I am publishing this government’s latest report to Parliament on High Speed Two (HS2).
Over the past year, Mark Wild and HS2 Ltd have worked closely with my department and other partners in government to assess the remaining scope of work, and to estimate thoroughly how long it will take and how much it will cost to complete the project. The government has accepted his advice on the revised cost and schedule for completing HS2, and I am now sharing these figures publicly.
The expected cost of delivering HS2 is now in the range of £ 87.7 – 102.7 billion. This is expressed in a mixed price base, including the cash outturn of works to date and the costs of future work excluding inflation. This represents £ 70.9 – 82.2 billion in an equivalent 2019 mixed price base – a stark increase on the previous cost range of £35 – 45 billion (2019 prices) set under the previous government.
These ranges cover the cost of the whole programme, stretching from London Euston to Birmingham Curzon Street and to the connection to the West Coast Main Line at Handsacre Junction, which will enable HS2 services to continue to the Northwest and Scotland. This includes the indicative expected cost of delivering HS2 to Euston, some of which we intend to fund through private finance and other sources.
Regarding schedule, the delivery of HS2’s opening stage is now expected between May 2036 and October 2039. This will see the first trains running between Old Oak Common in west London and Birmingham Curzon Street. We estimate that the full scheme, including both Euston to the south and Handsacre Junction to the north, will open between May 2040 and December 2043.
Two thirds of this expected cost increase are a combination of necessary works that were missed from the scope of the original project plan, under-estimation and inefficient delivery. These are issues that were within the control of HS2 Ltd, some of its suppliers, and previous governments, and these lessons are being applied following the James Stewart Review.
A third of the cost increase is linked to inflation, which has significantly impacted the British economy over the past five years. The cost estimate for the programme was updated in the past to account for inflation, but not regularly enough. To reflect inflation more accurately in the future, including any impacts arising from the current conflict in the Middle East, we will update the price base every two years in line with future Spending Reviews.
As I set out in my interim Parliamentary Report in March, I asked HS2 Ltd CEO Mark Wild to present the government with options to reduce the complexity and over-specification of HS2 in order to bring down costs and delivery timelines. HS2 Ltd, in collaboration with my department, has reported on the initial outcomes of this work, and following robust assurance and consideration at a Ministerial Task Force, I have accepted the recommendation to bring HS2 into line with proven leading European high-speed operating standards, including operating HS2 at up to 320 kilometres per hour (kph), as it supports our endeavour to bring HS2 into operation safely at the lowest reasonable cost.
HS2’s initial work on speed specification suggests that by aligning with other top railways in Europe we could potentially save between £1 billion and £2.5 billion over the life of the delivery programme, by reducing testing and commissioning time, opening earlier and with reduced costs compared to existing plans. The main savings come from avoiding the risks associated with certifying a railway at a speed not operated anywhere in the world.
This is an initial assessment that will mature further as the work is refined into a full programme baseline, but HS2 Ltd, and my department, are confident this will make it more likely that HS2 is delivered at the lowest reasonable cost. This change provides an opportunity to reduce the risks involved in delivering HS2 by aligning the speed and systems used with tried-and-tested operations in the UK and Europe – simplifying the remaining work to be delivered. The reduction in top speed will be modest and brings HS2 in line with the fastest high-speed services already operating in Europe, relying on proven technology and systems. Initial assessments indicate that journey times from London to Birmingham will increase by 3 minutes, and will still be 30 minutes faster than the current service, whilst delivering the capacity we need and supporting future economic growth along the line, and around the stations.
Mark Wild has set his organisation the challenging ambition of delivering the programme at a cost of £ 93.2 billion and an initial opening date of late 2037 for trains running between Old Oak Common and Birmingham Curzon Street. This ambition deliberately sits within the lower half of the ranges to drive better and more efficient delivery. We support it, which gives him a clear mandate to drive down costs and improve productivity.
As the reset progresses and a full delivery baseline is developed, I recognise that additional information might result in HS2 Ltd reporting above this ambition in the future. If that is the case, the ambition will remain useful to incentivise better productivity within the ranges I have published today.
Past estimates of both cost and schedule have proven clearly inaccurate. Given the need to rebuild public trust, it was essential that we learn lessons from past failures and take the time to develop a robust set of figures, as recommended by James Stewart in his review commissioned by this government. The new estimates and their methodologies have been thoroughly assessed and scrutinised, including by a panel of experts who have successfully delivered railways internationally and domestically, like the Elizabeth Line. An Accounting Officer Assessment was produced alongside the new ranges.
However, these estimates do not disguise the fact that HS2 Ltd has already spent close to the original budget. The reset work also makes clear that progress on finishing the civil engineering for the entire line of route is at least four years behind the original schedule, and that the time required to test and commission HS2 to ensure a reliable and safe service was underestimated by another three years. The number of years left to complete the programme is roughly the same as when construction started in 2020, and it is likely we will need to spend the same amount as has already been spent to date.
It is now imperative that we proceed with the final stages of the HS2 reset so that the programme is brought under control and delivered sensibly going forward.
Despite the significant challenges, the programme is at peak delivery, with 31,000 people and thousands of UK businesses working hard to deliver HS2. Delivery progress continues to be made, with the contract for HS2’s rolling stock depot at Washwood Heath, in Birmingham, awarded to a joint venture of Taylor Woodrow Infrastructure Ltd and Aureos Rail Ltd. We are starting to see results from reset: HS2 is now being built faster and more efficiently, with six major construction milestones reached earlier than planned last financial year, and with early signs looking positive for this year’s milestones. Work will continue over the coming year, with the final stages of the reset expected to conclude in the first half of 2027. Under new leadership, HS2 Ltd is putting construction back in logical order, strengthening commercial controls, restructuring the organisation, and rebuilding the partnership with government.
When faced with such a difficult inheritance, I could have chosen to cancel the project and remediate the construction undertaken so far. The costs of doing so are considerable and could cost as much as completing HS2, and would result in no lasting benefit, abandoning ambitions for better national transport across our railway network and potentially leaving communities across our country blighted by unused infrastructure – something I am simply not prepared to do. Communities affected by HS2 do not want to live near half-finished structures that serve no useful purpose without a railway. The economic growth that HS2 is already driving in the West Midlands, and at Old Oak Common, through new housing development, job creation and local regeneration, would be significantly impacted. Instead, this government is committed to doing the responsible thing: facing the challenge head-on so that we can leave the country’s infrastructure in a better condition than when we started.
Increasing the capacity and performance of the current network will drive economic growth. The southern section of the West Coast Main Line is congested and this limits the number of trains that can reliably run, and the number of passengers who can travel. Despite large urban centres, labour productivity in the West Midlands and the North West lags behind the national average. Faster trains will transform this, and extend these benefits to North Wales and Scotland too. This government has been clear on its mission to transform infrastructure across the country, and we are pursuing reforms that will improve our ability to deliver projects. Completing the project remains vital for economic growth and the capacity of our rail network.
The same will be true of our plans for Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR), which will deliver a turn up and go railway across the city regions of the Northern Growth Corridor – better connecting Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield, and York, with faster and more regular services to Newcastle, Chester and Hull. Development work is underway and we will maintain our focus on applying the lessons from the successful delivery of the Transpennine upgrade, and from HS2, ensuring that we improve our delivery of major rail projects across the country. We also announced our long-term intent for a full new rail line connecting Birmingham and Manchester, which informed our decision on NPR. This will not be a revival of HS2 and no decisions have been taken on the specification or timetable for delivery. In the meantime, we will retain land the government has already purchased between the West Midlands and Crewe.
These new estimates, alongside cost and schedule ambitions to incentivise better delivery, provide a robust foundation for completing the final stages of the reset. Looking ahead, our focus will remain on delivering the railway safely, as soon as possible, and at the lowest reasonable cost.
Wider reset
A key focus of the HS2 reset work has been to put the building blocks of the programme back in the right order. HS2 Ltd has assessed what it will take to finish the civils works on the line of route and stations, to deliver the rail systems, and to deploy the rolling stock, test the railway and drive reliability before starting passenger services.
Over the coming year, HS2 Ltd will be developing a new Baseline for the programme to provide a clear scope of work and path to delivery. It will also form the basis for performance monitoring and reporting by the department to ensure that the project is robustly managed once the reset is complete. I have instructed my officials to update the programme’s business case to ensure that we reflect the changes in HS2’s delivery.
In the meantime, with better contract management, clearer accountability and stronger project controls, the reset is enabling us to put taxpayers’ money to better use and deliver more construction in year for less expenditure than previously. In the 2025/26 financial year, HS2 Ltd delivered over 10% more progress on construction than planned with the same amount of money.
Taking earthworks as an example, over 2025/26, HS2 Ltd moved 25.0 million cubic metres compared to a plan of 20.8 million, an improvement of 20%. Construction costs are tracking below forecast and delivery performance improved over the past year, with six major milestones on tunnels and roads completed ahead of in-year schedule. These included the sliding of a road bridge for the A46 over the HS2 route in April 2025, the installation of precast beams and overbridges over Station Road near Calvert in August 2025, and the second breakthrough on the Bromford tunnel in Birmingham in October 2025. The north portal structure at the Chiltern tunnel was completed in 12 months, several months faster than the south portal, thanks to lessons learned and innovative construction methods. The excavation of the 8.4-mile Northolt tunnel, the second longest on HS2, was completed on schedule in June 2025 despite complex ground conditions.
These improvements have been supported by HS2 Ltd introducing an improved programme control framework. Teams are using new tools and mechanisms, allowing them to better track planned works against actual progress and delivery on the ground, and enabling better problem identification and reporting of progress. Weekly performance reviews enable construction teams to identify problems quickly and resolve issues before they escalate, creating a more responsive and accountable approach. This has taken place while key health and safety indicators have also improved.
HS2 Ltd’s new management team inherited a challenging commercial position. Prior to the reset, commercial capabilities and the management of HS2’s construction contracts were not effective. HS2 Ltd’s ability to settle commercial matters progressively and contemporaneously had deteriorated and become insufficient over recent years. Consequently, large backlogs had been allowed to develop in relation to cost verification, cost finalisation and contract change.
HS2 Ltd has since concentrated on strengthening its commercial controls. New commercial roles have been created to focus on cost verification and contract management, to scrutinise every payment application, to challenge contractor claims, and to manage contracts in taxpayers’ interests. These improvements must be fully embedded in the company, and endure beyond completion of the reset, to the conclusion of the programme.
HS2 Ltd is also engaging with its key supply chain partners to review contracts, close out historic payments only where appropriate and justified, and seek opportunities to incentivise improved performance. This work will be critical to stabilising costs and enabling us to make the spend on HS2 as efficient as possible. I will update on progress in my next report.
HS2 Ltd was set up to deliver a multiphase programme and grew accordingly; this multiphase programme no longer exists. Consequently, HS2 Ltd is being transformed into a lean and accountable delivery body focused on safe delivery between London and the West Midlands at the lowest reasonable cost. Given the overlap of alignment with elements of HS2’s former Phase 2, HS2 Ltd was already developing infrastructure for Northern Powerhouse Rail between Liverpool and Manchester. To make best use of taxpayers’ money and avoid additional costs through alternative arrangements, this work will continue and is being brigaded into a separate business unit, pending longer-term decisions about delivery responsibility for this scheme. The high-level plan we recently announced for Northern Powerhouse Rail remains unaffected by the new cost and schedule ranges for HS2.
HS2 Ltd did not have the right skills, structure or culture to deliver a programme of this scale successfully. Major steps are being taken to restructure the organisation to control and deliver HS2 more effectively, including:
reshaping the corporate centre, reducing headcount by cutting 300 corporate roles and rebalancing the organisation to better support delivery teams
redirecting resources to boost frontline delivery capacity by 40%, with 168 additional roles focused on cost management, oversight and decision-making
bringing in skilled and experienced professionals across commercial, technical, assurance, controls, and finance functions to fill critical capability gaps
As a result, there has also been significant restructuring of the leadership team at HS2 Ltd. This includes appointing a new Director of Business Delivery to reshape the organisation and a Chief Commercial Officer to provide additional commercial leadership, a gap identified in James Stewart’s review. Looking ahead, the department is also working closely with DfT Operator and Network Rail to strengthen the voice of the future operator into the delivery programme and deliver HS2 as part of an integrated railway.
The reset has begun bearing fruit, and I expect continued progress through the financial year as work progresses on completing the delivery baseline, implementing the new commercial strategy and reshaping HS2 Ltd.
The government accepted all 89 of James Stewart’s recommendations in June last year, and since then good progress has been made in implementing them, with both the department and HS2 Ltd on track to implement the remaining recommendations by the end of the programme reset, recognising that delivering the principles of the review will be an enduring endeavour for the lifetime of the programme. I am pleased that James has agreed to join the HS2 Shareholder Board to help ensure that the principles of his review are delivered in full.
The review found that multiple layers of assurance cause duplication and delays, driven by a lack of trust. The department has worked with HS2 Ltd and government partners to implement streamlined governance. This includes using the new Mega Projects Decision Panel to replace existing approval processes and oversee the HS2 reset process, alongside the Ministerial Task Force that this government reinstated. To support effective decision-making, the department has also implemented an integrated approach to assurance, bringing cross-government partners and external experts together to scrutinise the reset and utilising experts to assure the approach. Improvements to culture and trust are being put in place across the two organisations.
The review also highlighted weaknesses in HS2 Ltd’s corporate governance. The appointment of Mike Brown as Chair of HS2 Ltd and his subsequent strengthening of the Board are significant steps in addressing this. The HS2 Ltd Board’s roles and responsibilities have been clarified, with strengthened arrangements for compliance and organisational capability; enhancing delivery expertise within the Board and the company; and ensuring robust oversight through the Board’s sub-committees.
Learning is being embedded across current and future projects through:
independent assurance reviews of major projects, including Euston, Heathrow, Northern Powerhouse Rail, East West Rail, and the A66 Northern Trans-Pennine
resetting the department’s programme of work to improve project delivery
dissemination of learning across the department, its arm’s-length bodies, and wider government
monitoring progress on wider government recommendations in partnership with the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority
Following the publication of the review in June 2025, the Prime Minister asked the Cabinet Secretary to consider the Civil Service and the wider public sector’s stewardship of the HS2 programme, and whether further investigation was warranted. The Cabinet Secretary commissioned Sir Stephen Lovegrove, former National Security Adviser, to undertake a review focusing on accountability, governance and capability. The review has been published today; the government will respond to its recommendations after thorough consideration of the findings.
Oversight
We have continued to strengthen oversight structures to drive performance and accountability. We established a new Shareholder Board, chaired by the Permanent Secretary and with independent membership, to provide more effective oversight. This Board has met six times over the last year. A monthly Programme Performance Board has been established to ensure and oversee the effective delivery of HS2 against agreed schedule, cost and scope.
Alongside regular bilateral meetings between government ministers, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury and I have attended all meetings of the Ministerial Task Force to deliver effective oversight. Since my report in July 2025, it has met four times to review progress on both delivery and the reset; to agree HS2 Ltd’s commercial strategy; to agree the updated schedule and cost ranges for the delivery of HS2; and to consider the early findings of the work on HS2 speed specification.
On his appointment, I tasked Mike Brown with reviewing the capacity and capability of the HS2 Ltd Board and its effectiveness. On his recommendation, I have appointed six new Non-Executive Directors which will bolster senior leadership capability in infrastructure delivery, health and safety, business transformation and commercial relationships.
While better governance alone is not enough to bring performance back on track, effective oversight, clear accountability and purpose-driven structures will be essential in improving management of the programme’s delivery.
Expenditure
To the end of March 2026, £44.2 billion (nominal prices) had been spent on the HS2 programme. This is provided in more detail in the financial annex, based on data provided by HS2 Ltd.
Spend to date information covers the period up to the end of March 2026. Unless stated otherwise, all figures are presented in nominal prices.
At the 2025 Spending Review, the government allocated a £25.3 billion capital settlement for HS2 Ltd from Financial Years 2026/27 to 2029/30 in order to progress delivery of HS2 from the West Midlands to London Euston. The HS2 programme reset work is underpinned by this settlement, and the annual funding allocations remain unchanged.
Euston
We have made significant progress in developing affordable, integrated plans for the Euston Campus, with all partners confirming their support for an overall spatial plan. The HS2 station will include 6 platforms, supporting all foreseeable Phase 1 services. Space will also be provided for additional platforms should they be required to support a future expansion of the network. In addition, the redevelopment of the existing Euston Station will deliver a new station concourse that will accommodate current and future passenger demand on the West Coast Main Line, while replacing life-expired station assets in a cost-effective manner.
We are working at pace with our Master Development Partner, Lendlease, on a Masterplan for Euston, with an emphasis on economic growth and delivering much needed housing, and will set out a plan in due course. We are also exploring models for development across the wider Euston area with local partners.
In April 2026, the Euston Delivery Company assumed the leadership role for the Euston campus and became the single directing mind for the Euston programme, delivering a cross-campus approach to the next stage of design work. Initially, the Euston Delivery Company will sit as a business unit within the department as we build its capability. We expect the company to be stood up as a public body in the Autumn.
With our significant public commitment to funding HS2 into Euston, we believe that the additional investment required to build the new HS2 station at Euston is an exciting opportunity for private investors. As referenced in the government’s 10-Year Infrastructure Strategy, the department is exploring the use of a public-private partnership to design, build, finance and maintain this HS2 station. We are continuing to advance this work, in close collaboration with HM Treasury and the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority.
In February 2026, the department launched the first stage of preliminary market engagement which sought to raise industry awareness of the project and the department’s emerging plans, assess potential market appetite and identify priority issues for the market at an early stage, to support refinement of the proposed commercial and procurement approach. Confirmation of using a public-private partnership model will be subject to achieving appropriate risk transfer and delivering value for money for taxpayers. We will also continue to explore the most effective ways to capture the value created by development unlocked through transport infrastructure and recycle it to repay public investment, including through a tax increment financing-style mechanism at Euston.
The updated cost range for HS2 published today includes an early estimate of the cost of delivering the HS2 and London Underground elements of the Euston programme, some of which we intend to fund through private finance and other sources. While at an earlier stage of maturity than the wider HS2 reset, these costs will be reviewed and refined as work progresses, and further updates will be provided as part of regular parliamentary reporting. An updated budget for Euston will be subject to further development of design and schedule. The redevelopment of the existing Euston Station concourse area is subject to separate funding via the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline.
Progress has been made on ‘meanwhile uses’ to reduce the impact on the local community. In July 2025, the new Euston Community Hub opened in the former Maria Fidelis school and has since had over 7,000 visitors. The Hub, located at the heart of Euston, provides a dynamic space for community sector organisations and public service providers to carry out various programmes and community-led activities, initiatives and engagement. It will also serve as a central information point for residents and passengers, providing regular updates and engagement opportunities about plans to redevelop Euston. September 2025 also saw the opening of the Construction Skills Yard, where local people can gain experience of being on site, get trained on machinery in a realistic environment, and use the site facilities. The new training hub, which expands the existing Euston Skills Centre is being used to deliver skills courses and create more opportunities for residents to access local jobs in the construction industry, and on the Euston station works.
Benefits
Economic growth and housing
HS2 will provide people with more choice about where to work, and where to study. Economic growth will also be driven by increased leisure travel, as it becomes quicker and easier for people to visit friends or explore different parts of the UK.
By bringing businesses closer together, HS2 will make it easier to share knowledge and enable them to access more workers in different locations. As a result, HS2 will attract new businesses to local areas, in turn driving increased investment and economic activity.
The economic benefits of HS2 are already being seen with the programme’s four new stations acting as catalysts for significant local growth and regeneration. HS2 estimate this will support the generation of over 63,000 new homes, 49,000 new jobs and an economic uplift of £20 billion in the West Midlands and west London over the next 10 years. HS2 is supporting the early development we are already seeing in Birmingham and the West Midlands, helping to catalyse investment in exciting new areas such as the Sports Quarter.
HS2 will also have a significant impact around Euston station. Euston is one of the largest development opportunities in central London and its potential is enhanced by the connectivity HS2 will provide. Recent estimates from the London Borough of Camden suggest that by 2053 a mix of new homes and commercial development could deliver an economic uplift of around £41 billion and support the creation of 34,000 new jobs.
Alongside the reset, HS2 Ltd is exploring opportunities for early release of land at key locations: Old Oak Common, Interchange, Curzon Street and Washwood Heath, enabling some land holdings to be brought into use while the railway is being built. This work aims to unlock potential for new homes, retail and commercial development.
This approach means we can deliver regeneration benefits as early as possible, creating lasting economic value alongside railway construction rather than waiting until completion of the railway. Each site represents a significant opportunity to boost local economies and support this government’s growth agenda. We are working closely with local authorities, communities, stakeholders, developers and investors throughout this process to help realise these opportunities.
HS2’s economic benefits will extend beyond the new stations, as HS2 services will extend and provide better journeys to the Northwest and Scotland, with faster journeys also possible through onward connections to areas including North Wales. The delivery of this new railway will also release capacity to meet increasing demand for regional, local and freight services between London and the West Midlands, further supporting growth in the local communities along that route.
Skills and innovation
People are at the heart of HS2 and its benefits, as the programme continues to support around 31,000 jobs.
I am proud of the impact HS2 is already having on the lives of people being brought into the workforce. So far, 5,771 previously unemployed people have been brought into work since Phase 1 Royal Assent.
We are also making great progress on supporting apprentices and have achieved a significant milestone this year with 2,136 apprenticeships created since 2017, breaking the 2,000 target that had been set for the programme. These apprenticeships will have a lasting impact on the individuals who have completed their programmes and help to develop a skilled and modern workforce, leaving a lasting skills legacy for the construction industry.
Innovation also remains central to HS2’s delivery. As part of the programme reset, HS2 Ltd is working with some of the UK’s leading tech specialists – bringing in expertise from beyond the rail sector – to tackle key challenges, including improving value for money, boosting site productivity, and enhancing safety management. Through its partnership with Connected Places Catapult, the HS2 Innovation Accelerator has supported start-ups and tech innovators since 2020, delivering cost savings, funding and investment of over £250 million, creating hundreds of new jobs in science and tech and attracting investment into SMEs.
Community impacts, land and property
Community engagement
Due to the delays to delivery, the impacts of construction will be felt by communities along the line of route for longer. HS2 Ltd continues to inform and involve communities who are impacted by construction and the uncertainty caused by the project reset. Between April 2025 and March 2026, over 21,000 residents were engaged at over 3,000 meetings and events. A further 29,406 enquiries were received via the HS2 Ltd Helpdesk, which operates 24 hours a day.
During the same period, HS2 Ltd received 1,405 complaints, the vast majority of which continue to relate to the impacts of construction, including concerns about traffic and transport disruption and noise and vibration impacts. HS2 Ltd is committed to resolving complaints promptly. Of the 1,405 complaints received, HS2 Ltd resolved 100% of urgent complaints within 2 working days and resolved 98% of all other complaints within 20 working days or less.
Local funds
One of the ways in which HS2 currently offers mitigation, benefits and compensation for line-of-route communities affected by construction is through the £40 million Community and Environment Fund and the Business and Local Economy Fund. This fund will continue to be available throughout the prolonged construction period. As at April 2026, over £22.3 million has been invested in communities and businesses that have been demonstrably disrupted by the construction of HS2, delivering 405 projects that will leave an enduring legacy.
Land, property and remediation
This government has recognised the need to make faster progress in settling outstanding property compensation claims, which in the past were taking far too long to reach final settlement. HS2 Ltd has now significantly increased the rate at which claims on Phase 1 are being settled, but we have made clear to the company that further improvement is needed.
In January, the government confirmed its intention to retain existing land holdings previously acquired for HS2 between the West Midlands and Crewe, in line with its intention to ultimately deliver a new rail line between Birmingham and Manchester.
HS2 Ltd is speaking to property owners whose land has been acquired in order to progress outstanding claims. HS2 Ltd and the supply chain have begun to engage with landowners of temporarily acquired land alongside local authorities to agree necessary remediation plans. We anticipate the remediation programme will conclude by the end of 2027.
The powers to compulsory purchase land on the former HS2 Phase 2a route expired on 11 February 2026. The government has the option to seek to extend these powers in the future, if required; we will set out our future intentions on land powers, consents and safeguarding in due course.
Along the Phase 1 route, HS2 Ltd has identified a number of surplus properties for potential disposal and has begun to market these. We have already sold a small number of Phase 1 properties as part of a pilot project and anticipate selling an increasing number over the coming years as continued progress in building the railway means we are able to release properties back to the market.
Following the lifting of safeguarding between the West Midlands and Leeds that I announced in my report in July 2025, the department has commenced a programme to sell land and property that is no longer required on the former Phase 2 route, starting with 558 properties on the former Phase 2b Eastern Leg.
A delivery agent has been appointed to lead on delivering the programme and we expect open market sales to begin later in 2026. HS2 Ltd will continue to manage properties on behalf of the department.
The disposal process will comply with the Crichel Down Rules, giving former owners, or their successors, whose properties were acquired under statutory blight or compulsory purchase, an opportunity to reacquire their former property at its current market value.
This programme will be phased over several years and carried out carefully to minimise disruption to local communities, protect local property markets, and ensure value for money for taxpayers.
Wider rail network
One of the lessons we are learning from HS2 is the need to approach the infrastructure needs of the rail network as a unified system, rather than a collection of separate projects. The government’s ultimate intention to deliver a full new rail line between Birmingham and Manchester will help to maximise the national benefits of both HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail and safeguard future growth for the long term, by ensuring that the West Coast Main Line corridor offers sufficient capacity and good connectivity. Further work will be carried out in collaboration with local partners on what will be delivered and when, but we expect the delivery timelines for this line to follow the completion of HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail.
As the department prepares to establish Great British Railways (GBR) and continues to bring passenger services back under public ownership, we are considering options for how HS2 services and infrastructure will be integrated. GBR will improve services for passengers and freight users, transition the rail network towards greater financial sustainability, and unlock barriers to the delivery of future schemes. As such, I am clear HS2 needs to be delivered and operated in a way that supports these objectives.
The planned approach to HS2’s operations must align with GBR’s operating model as it develops. The HS2 service will need to align with and complement the wider rail network. Decisions on the operational model for HS2 and its interaction with GBR are being carefully considered. It is likely that transitional states will be required in order to de-risk the process and protect our ability to deliver the HS2 project and services during this period.
Financial annex
Total estimated cost range
HS2 is forecast to cost £87.7 – £102.7 billion. This is expressed in a mixed price base, including the costs of both works to date and future work excluding inflation.
As committed to Parliament in my previous report, the cost ranges provided also express spend after Q3 2019 in 2019 values excluding projected inflation. This approach ensures that costs can be reconciled against figures previously communicated to Parliament and the public.
HS2 programme ranges
£ billion
Low
High
Q3 2025
87.7
102.7
Q3 2019
70.9
82.2
Notes
Q3 2025 ranges
[1] Spend up to September 2025 is expressed in nominal to reflect the cash spent on the programme (£40.9 billion). This approach is consistent with the government’s Parliamentary reporting and HS2 Ltd’s management of costs since Notice to Proceed in 2020, in which spend prior to Q3 2019 was treated in nominal.
[2] The remaining costs-to-go are presented in the prices of the day (Q3 2025) excluding forecast general and construction inflation. When the price base of the programme is reset every two years in line with future Spending Reviews, the lower and upper bound of the ranges will increase commensurately with inflation actually incurred over this period.
[3] The ranges include the full cost of delivering HS2 to Euston, some of which we intend to fund through private finance and other sources such as tax increment financing.
Q3 2019 ranges
[4] Note the Notice to Proceed Funding Envelope was constructed by uprating expenditure between 2015 and Q3 2019 to Q3 2019 prices.
Overall nominal cost
[5] Indicatively, the provisional cash estimate based on the lower and upper bound for the overall cost of the HS2 programme is £94.3 billion – £112.4 billion in cash terms, including projected inflation forecast using HS2 Ltd’s bespoke inflation indices.
Historic and forecast expenditure
The information on HS2’s overall spend to date and budget is now being provided in nominal (cash) terms following a commitment made by the department to the Public Accounts Committee to express the costs of the programme in a more up-to-date price base and better capture the inflation incurred since 2019. The government will provide further details on the 2026 to 2027 position in cash terms as part of the standard Main Estimates report to Parliament.
This is expressed in nominal prices, including land and property.
The speech made by Mel Stride, the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, in the House of Commons on 18 May 2026.
This King’s Speech is an empty vessel, which is a surprise, because only last week the Prime Minister was telling anybody who cared to listen that the Government would be leaning into economic growth in a more radical way, and would eschew managerial incrementalism, yet we have heard nothing other than managerial incrementalism, at best, from the right hon. Lady just now. [Interruption.] Of course, I meant the right hon. Gentleman. If only the Chancellor were here, Mr Speaker, I would be right about everything.
The Prime Minister also said that Labour would tread more lightly on our lives. Well, we have seen what that has meant in the last few weeks. The Chancellor said that it would all be growth, growth, growth. The Secretary of State trots out and trumpets the latest uplift—a very modest one—in the International Monetary Fund’s forecast, but he neglects to mention that although it is forecasting 1% growth today, it forecast 1.3% back in January.
The Secretary of State also neglects to mention that the increase in growth in the first quarter of this year is on the back of risible growth performance in Q4 of last year. The situation in Q4 was exacerbated, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility and the Bank of England, by the Chancellor’s making every possible tax rise; that had a material impact—it depressed the economy. Some of the growth is simply a bounce back from the mistakes made at the end of last year.
The Secretary of State refused to answer the question from my hon. Friend the Member for Rutland and Stamford (Alicia Kearns) about what happened to GDP per capita, so let me tell him that it has been utterly anaemic throughout this Government’s period in office. He also failed to mention that the notes to the IMF’s comments on upgrading the growth forecast for this year point to domestic uncertainty possibly weighing down on consumer spending and investment decisions. I wonder what “domestic uncertainty” could possibly be referring to. As to our record, I remind the Secretary of State that on the day of the general election, the previous Conservative Government had inflation bang on target at 2%. It is now 50% more than that. We also had the fastest growth in the G7, employment at near record levels, and near record low levels of unemployment, and we had 13 consecutive months of real wage growth.
Max Wilkinson (Cheltenham) (LD) On the subject of mistakes made and growth, does the shadow Chancellor accept that the Brexit that he and his party left us has knocked between 4% and 8% off our GDP?
Sir Mel Stride As I will come on to argue, our problems actually rest a little closer to home, rather than having anything to do with our relationship with the European Union.
The Labour party promised stability. It also—Members should try not to laugh too loudly—said that it would create the most pro-business Government in the history of our country. None of that has come to pass. It is not just the Prime Minister who is the problem; if this Prime Minister is replaced, whoever goes on to lead the Labour party will not do any better, because Labour had no plan at all for improving our economy. It had a plan for winning an election—keep as low a profile as possible, hold the Ming vase and tiptoe across the shiny floor towards that loveless landslide—but no plan for the people of our country. The Labour Government are in hock to their Back Benchers. Every time they try to do something that requires some backbone, they are stopped by their Back Benchers.
The record of this Government is appalling, and not just on growth. I notice that the Secretary of State did not mention unemployment once, and he certainly did not mention youth unemployment. Under this Government, we are seeing the highest unemployment in five years, and youth unemployment is nudging up towards 20%. Under the previous Labour Government, youth unemployment increased by more than 40%; under the previous Conservative Government, it reduced by more than 40%.
Sir Ashley Fox (Bridgwater) (Con) Is it not shameful that the Government are having to subsidise employers who take on young people, when it is the Government’s actions—their imposing higher national insurance charges, a higher minimum wage, and a higher burden through the Employment Rights Act 2025—that caused the problem in the first place?
Sir Mel Stride My hon. Friend is entirely right. It is like trying to apply the accelerator while having the brake on fully. That is what this Government are doing. That is the total illogicality of their approach.
Inflation is up on where it was under the Conservatives. It is about the highest in the G7; it certainly was last year. As we lean into the challenges of oil and gas price spikes, that is a weak position to be in. Most economists will make that point. The Labour Government will have borrowed a full quarter of a trillion pounds more across this Parliament than would have been borrowed under the plans that they inherited. It is no wonder that our borrowing costs are the highest in the G7—higher than those of Greece, and higher, even, than those of Morocco. Why? We know why: it is just what socialists do. Socialists believe that you can tax your way to prosperity, but I tell the Secretary of State: you cannot.
The £25 billion of additional tax on businesses—national insurance increases—has crucified business in this country. The burden has fallen predominantly on young people, because there was not just an increase in the rate, but a reduction to the threshold at which the tax cuts in, meaning that young people have borne the brunt of that tax increase. The sectors that rely predominantly on first-time jobbers and on young, part-time and female workers have been crucified, including the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors, in which more than 100,000 jobs have been destroyed by this Government.
Alison Griffiths (Bognor Regis and Littlehampton) (Con) On Friday, I opened the new Premier Inn in my constituency—a project that was passed under the last Conservative Government—but many businesses in my constituency are failing because of increased costs and regulation. Does my right hon. Friend agree that this is an absolute travesty for our country?
Sir Mel Stride My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I have had the great pleasure of visiting her constituency to speak to businesses, and that is exactly what they complain of. The Government made no effort, in the King’s Speech, to get on top of the benefits bill. There was a reference to the Timms review of the personal independence payment, but we know that in the review’s terms of reference, there is an explicit statement that it is not about controlling the welfare bill. There will be no savings as a consequence of the Timms review. That is not good enough. We have got to be about getting people off benefits and back into work.
Tom Tugendhat Does my right hon. Friend not agree that we are seeing not only young people let down, but the deeply immoral act of people being kept on welfare? In five or 10 years’ time, people will have been on welfare for so long that they will not have any options. They will effectively have been left slaves of a state that has no concern for them. Nobody in this Chamber will have any power over how the welfare state will behave then, and those people will have no options. It will be the fault of this House and this Government for having kept those people there, and having imprisoned them.
Sir Mel Stride That is entirely right. The Conservatives know that work matters, and getting people off benefits matters. People’s mental health is improved by going to work, and by having the social interaction, routine and sense of pride and self-worth that comes with work. That is why the level of unemployment and the failure of this Government to tackle benefits is so appalling.
Dawn Butler (Brent East) (Lab) I used to work in the employment service, and Thatcher encouraged us not to sign people on, and to instead put them on the sick. The Conservatives created a whole generation of people on the sick, just to manipulate the numbers. How do you like those apples?
Sir Mel Stride All these flashbacks to the 1980s are a slightly desperate attempt to get away from the 2020s, I think.
The other thing that socialists love to do is borrow, borrow, borrow, and spend, spend, spend until they have run out of other people’s money. That is precisely what this Government have done. The Secretary of State mentioned the fiscal rules, but of course he failed to mention that in the run-up to the election, the Chancellor said that she would abide by our fiscal rules, and then promptly changed them, so that she could borrow more, flipping the definition of “debt” from public sector net debt to public sector financial liabilities. That allowed her to take her foot off the brake and borrow and spend even more.
Charlie Maynard (Witney) (LD) Flashing back to the 1980s, would the right hon. Member like to remind us when the Conservatives last balanced a budget?
Sir Mel Stride The current account went into a slight surplus just around 2015-16. [Interruption.] It did, actually. That was on the back of our inheriting a £160 billion deficit in 2010, which was over 10% of GDP—another example of the disasters of a Labour Government.
The Secretary of State rightly spoke of artificial intelligence and the opportunities that it presents, but what we know of artificial intelligence is that it will have a profound and very uncertain effect on the labour market. We need a flexible skills offer to deal with that, and flexible labour markets, but through the Employment Rights Act, the Government are making the labour market more rigid, and that will hurt younger people in particular, who do not have a track record in employment, so do not be surprised if youth unemployment continues to hover around 16% or 17% as a consequence of the actions of this Government.
When it comes to leaning into these challenges, we know that there is no plan. This Government are not going to do anything. They are just involved in internecine introspection—a civil war, now—within the Labour party. They said that they would tread lightly on our lives; in fact, they are now stampeding all over them. The rivals to the Prime Minister will be looking to double-down on the ruinous policies that I have just set out.
We have seen the real effects of this in recent days. On Friday, after the former Member for Makerfield said that he would step down in order to ease the passage of Andy Burnham to this place, what happened to gilt yields? They spiked up 18 basis points. I have done a little bit of research, and I can tell the House that, if sustained through the forecast period, that would mean over £5 billion of additional debt servicing costs. That is about £300 for every working family in this country. That is the effect of Andy Burnham, and he has not even arrived here yet.
We are on the edge of a precipice economically, leaning into a very turbulent time. These are the policies of the madhouse, yet we are told not to worry. The hon. Member for Liverpool Wavertree (Paula Barker), who I believe is an outrider for Andy Burnham, said of the bond markets that they would just have to “fall into line”. Andy Burnham himself said in the New Statesman:
“We’ve got to go beyond this thing”—
Paula Barker (Liverpool Wavertree) (Lab) Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Sir Mel Stride I will in a moment.
Paula Barker On a point of order, Mr Speaker. My understanding is that if an hon. Member wishes to mention another hon. Member in the Chamber, they are supposed to give advance notice of that. I have received no such notice.
Mr Speaker That is not the case. A Member should be informed if they are not here, but the hon. Lady is sitting here, quite rightly, and I am sure that the shadow Chancellor is ready to give way immediately.
Sir Mel Stride I am always ready to give way, Mr Speaker, and to take your direction.
Paula Barker Thank you, Mr Speaker, and I thank the shadow Minister for giving way. I agree that what I said might not have been the most eloquent of answers. However, I would say that people in this country are fed up of the bond markets dabbling in the democracy of our country.
Sir Mel Stride That is a rather unfortunate example of doubling down or continuing to dig, if I may say so. Also, the hon. Lady’s comments pale in comparison with Andy Burnham’s comments in the New Statesman, where he said:
“We’ve got to go beyond this thing of being in hock to the bond markets”.
He also suggested that defence spending should lie outside the fiscal rules, as if spending and borrowing to defend our country were a different form of borrowing from any other borrowing that this Government might entertain. He is not so much the king of the north; he is more like King Canute, sitting in his chair on the sand, dressed in his football kit, trying to push back the tide of the bond markets and saying things like, “You’ve got to fall in line” as the waters lap at his ankles and we all ultimately get swept away. It is ludicrous.
The King’s Speech included a holiday tax that will increase the cost of the most budget holidays in this country, clobbering people who have saved up hard and just want to make some memories with their children. We also have the nationalisation of steel, which seems to be just some kind of political sop to the left on the Labour Benches.
The Government are also going to put a stop to new oil and gas exploration. This is lunacy, when we are importing gas from Norway that is extracted from the same basin. We are also importing liquefied natural gas, formerly from Qatar and now predominantly from the United States, which has four times the carbon footprint compared with if we had extracted it ourselves using our own resources. All that energy security blown, all those jobs destroyed and all that tax revenue forgone, simply because of the ideological madness of the Labour party.
Harriet Cross The shadow Chancellor is completely right to reflect on the plight of the oil and gas sector under this Labour Government: 1,000 jobs are being lost in the sector every single month, which is affecting all our constituents, not just those in the north-east of Scotland. Does he share my dismay that a Labour Government do not take that more seriously?
Sir Mel Stride I do indeed. I have been up to Aberdeen, met my hon. Friend and heard at first hand about the economic effect this is having. It is utter madness. If we have an opportunity in government, we will put that right.
I have already mentioned benefits. There was nothing of any substance about welfare in this King’s Speech. There was nothing about the defence investment plan. Where is it? It was promised back in September.
Then we have the regulating for growth Bill—an oxymoron if ever there was one. “Regulating for growth” says all we need to know about this Labour Government. They know nothing about the economy, nothing about job creation and nothing about businesses.
Jim Shannon Will the shadow Minister give way?
Sir Mel Stride Briefly.
Jim Shannon I thank the shadow Minister for what he is saying. Does he share my concern, and the concerns of probably many in this House, that small and medium-sized businesses will suffer more than most? The figures for Northern Ireland indicate that between 85% and 89% of the job creators there are small businesses. Northern Ireland needs something special from this Government. Does he see something special coming, or are we just wondering what is going to happen?
Sir Mel Stride I am afraid that what I see coming is what is already baked in: business rates going through the roof. In some cases, small businesses on our high streets are facing 140% increases in the amount they have to pay in business rates.
Conservative Members believe in enterprise, opportunity, aspiration and markets. We believe in risk takers, in people who work hard, and in people who get up early in the morning and do the right thing—go out and create wealth, create jobs and grow our economy. Because of that, at our last conference we set out £47 billion-worth of savings, predominantly—£23 billion—on the welfare budget. With that we could do two wonderful things: first, we could start to bear down on the deficit and get on top of the debt, which is out of control under this Government; and secondly, we could get taxes down, particularly on the productive parts of the economy. We therefore announced the abolition of stamp duty and a tax cut for young people.
There is more in our alternative King’s Speech: a Bill to back our high streets and cut business rates for a quarter of a million of our high street businesses; a get Britain working Bill to reverse the damage done by the Employment Rights Act; a reducing bureaucracy Bill to remove the mountain of environmental, social and governance regulations; a save British industry Bill to get rid of the Climate Change Act 2008 and abolish the zero emission vehicle mandate; a cheap energy Bill to get rid of renewables subsidies and bring down bills for households and businesses; a getting Britain drilling Bill to reinvigorate our North sea oil and gas industry, creating jobs and boosting our exports; and a welfare reform Bill to get the benefits bill under control and restore the two-child cap. That is the serious plan that our economy needs. That is the plan to back our businesses and deliver growth. That is a Conservative plan for a better Britain.
