Healey pledges jobs push and fiscal discipline ahead of October 28 budget

Liverpool, United Kingdom. Finance minister John Healey pledged on Monday to “get Britain working again” by creating more jobs while reducing borrowing and adhering to the government’s fiscal rules. Speaking at the Labour Party’s annual conference, he said high debt-servicing costs and strained public finances limited the government’s room for manoeuvre.

Jobs and growth

Healey said Britain was entering a “new age of industrialisation” driven by technology and defence as the government seeks to revive sluggish economic growth. He offered an optimistic outlook but few details ahead of the October 28 budget.

Pointing to roughly one million young people in Britain who are not in work, Healey said more jobs and apprenticeships would be central to the government’s plans. The push is part of Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s effort to curb welfare spending, which reached a record £324 billion in real terms in the last financial year, equivalent to 11% of economic output.

Healey backed investment in defence and technology. He said economic progress should be reflected not only in statistics but also in families being able to afford holidays and businesses hiring more workers.

Budget constraints

Officials have signalled that the budget will prioritise reassuring bond markets. Long-term borrowing costs are at their highest levels since the 1990s.

“I will bring fresh hope to Britain built on the rock of fiscal discipline, built on the growing economy and good work,” Healey told delegates. Recalling that his first three priorities when elected were “jobs, jobs, jobs,” he said he retained his determination to deliver “good work, good jobs, Britain working again.”

Healey gave few other clues about the budget, but reaffirmed a commitment to balance day-to-day spending with revenue by the end of the decade.