Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves (Image: Getty Images)
’ move to invite senior banking chiefs to Downing Street to discuss ways of stimulating economic growth has prompted one financial expert to ask: “What has Labour been doing for the last 14 years?”
The Chancellor is believed to have summoned top executives at Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group, and Nationwide and others to a meeting on Wednesday.
But Scott Gallacher, Director at Rowley Turton, was sceptical about the benefits which would accrue.
He said: “Rachel Reeves meeting with the banks is all well and good, but the real question is why she needs to do this just months into the job.
“Did not spend 14 years in opposition developing a proper growth strategy? And if the financial sector is so crucial to their plans, why has it taken this long for her to sit down with them?”
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Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer (Image: AP)
Mr Gallacher suggested it had been obvious for years that the UK’s fundamental problems – namely low growth, high debt, weak productivity and a persistent balance of payments deficit – required more than “just tweaks to lending and consumer confidence” to resolve.
He added: “We need a real economic strategy that prioritises long-term investment, infrastructure and supply-side reforms.
“If Labour didn’t have a fully-formed plan ready to go on day one, what exactly were they doing for the past decade and a half?”
Wes Wilkes, CEO at Net-Worth NTWRK, described Ms Reeves as “in perpetual search of an echo”.
He explained: “She seems to be having conversations in as many corners as possible until she finds someone that agrees with her.
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“The answer is staring her and the Starmer government in the face but it would take a dose of humility and some knowledge of the economic system to reverse some of her hideous Budget decisions. So we shouldn’t hold our breath.”
Riz Malik, Independent Financial Adviser at R3 Wealth, added: “Asking the banks for help after already consulting regulators suggests an administration that appears to be out of ideas and lacking a clear strategy for economic growth.
“If they’ve exhausted all their plans, who’s next on the list for advice – primary school children?”
Posting on X on Thursday after the Bank of England reduced the base rate by a quarter of a percent to 4.5 percent, Ms Reeves said: “The cut will help ease pressures, but I am still not satisfied with the growth rate.
“That’s why we are going further and faster for growth, taking on the blockers and ripping up unnecessary regulatory barriers, to get more money in people’s pockets.”