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General election: Sajid Javid puts 3% cap on investment as he sets out Tory fiscal plans – live news General election: John McDonnell makes speech on Labour's economic policy - live news
(32 minutes later)
The chancellor and his Labour counterpart are both due to deliver speeches this morning outlining competing economic visions The chancellor and his Labour counterpart both deliver speeches this morning outlining competing economic visions
McDonnell says the Tory attitude in the 1980s, towards Liverpool and other places, was summed up by the phrase “there is no alternative”.
John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, is speaking now.
McDonnell was brought up in Liverpool, and he recalls his father working as a docker in the city. Like so many other families, his family moved south after work on the docks dried up.
Corbyn is introducing John McDonnell. He says McDonnell is someone who has changed the economic debate in this county.
Here is Miatta Fahnbulleh, chief executive of the New Economics Foundation, making the same point in a tweet on the Sajid Javid speech.
Jeremy Corbyn is now speaking at the Labour event in Liverpool. The main announcements will come from John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, who is due to speak shortly, but Corbyn is starting with a general warm-up.
He criticises what Jacob Rees-Mogg said about the Grenfell Tower, and says a Labour government would act immediately to remove Grenfell-style cladding from tower blocks.
There are massive imbalances in the country, he says, between east and west, north and south.
He says Labour’s tax plans will affect the richest 5% of the population. But everyone else will benefit, he says.
These are from the FT’s economic editor, Chris Giles.
This is what Sajid Javid said about how much extra spending would be possible under his new fiscal rules. (See 10.50am.)
Q: Isn’t it irresponsible to be using the no-deal headroom when a no-deal Brexit is still a risk?
Javid does not accept that. He says he only used half the headroom there. He says his plans are affordable.
The difference between Labour and the Conservatives could not be bigger, he says.
And that’s it. The Q&A is over.
Q: Can you commit to the Northern Powerhouse Rail scheme in full?
Javid says this is just the kind of plan that he wants to see for the north.
He does not want to make an announcement about that today.
But he says it would be “comfortably” affordable under the plans he has announced.
Labour can “spray money around like confetti”, he says. But that does not mean anything if they are going to crash the economy.
Q: How much would you borrow for investment?
Javid says historically the country has invested 1.8% of GDP per year for infrastructure. He says taking that to 2.8%, which would be affordable, would give you an extra £20bn a year.
Q: Swing voters have suffered cuts for 10 years. Why shouldn’t they go with Labour?
Javid says increased infrastructure spending can only happen with a strong economy. If you “crater” the economy, that will not be possible. He says Labour’s investment numbers are meaningless. John McDonnell is talking about £150bn in investment. He might as well talk about £1tn. These numbers are meaningless.
Q: Do you still want to reform stamp duty?
Javid says he will not comment on particular taxes today.
Sajid Javid is now taking questions.Sajid Javid is now taking questions.
Q: Does this mean you won’t be able to afford tax cuts?Q: Does this mean you won’t be able to afford tax cuts?
Javid says there will be scope for tax cuts.Javid says there will be scope for tax cuts.
Q: Are you not guilty of doing what you accuse Labour of - increasing borrowing irresponsibly? Q: Are you not guilty of doing what you accuse Labour of : increasing borrowing irresponsibly?
No, says Javid. He says the difference between the two parties’ approaches is “the difference between night and day”.No, says Javid. He says the difference between the two parties’ approaches is “the difference between night and day”.
Under the Tory plan, debt as a proportion of GDP would come down over the course of the parliament, he says.Under the Tory plan, debt as a proportion of GDP would come down over the course of the parliament, he says.
He says Labour has just conjured up a new £150bn fund, on top of the £250bn one already planned.He says Labour has just conjured up a new £150bn fund, on top of the £250bn one already planned.
He says he does not know if Labour will have fiscal rules. But if they do, they will not meet them.He says he does not know if Labour will have fiscal rules. But if they do, they will not meet them.
He says Labour will have to raise taxes. There will be a “tax bombshell” under Labour, he says.He says Labour will have to raise taxes. There will be a “tax bombshell” under Labour, he says.
Sajid Javid, the chancellor, is still speaking. He is now attacking Labour’s economic policies.
He says Labour would “ruin your finances”, raise tax and “saddle the next generation with debt”. He goes on:
Ever single Labour government in history has left this country with an economic crisis.
He says the last Labour government took 13 years to undo the economic legacy left to it by the Conservatives. A Jeremy Corbyn government would only take 13 months, he says.
He says Labour wants to renationalise companies, without paying market rats of compensation.
And he singles out Labour’s plans to make big companies allocate up to 10% of their shares to workers in “inclusive ownership funds”. He says this would take £300bn from companies.
And these are from Faisal Islam, the BBC’s economics editor.
These are from Torsten Bell, a former Labour adviser who is now chief executive of the Resolution Foundation, an economic thinktank, on Javid’s new fiscal rules. (See 10.31am.)
Javid says the Tories are “taking the government forward from a decade of recovery to a decade of renewal”.
He summarises some of the government spending announcements since Boris Johnson became prime minister.
Public services were a lifeline for people like him when he was growing up, “and we must nurture them”, he says.
But he says that does not mean the party believes in an “ever-expanding state”.
He says when he became chancellor there was £27bn of “headroom” that he could use for spending. He used half of that, he says.
He says it is possible to borrow at negative interest rates. So it makes sense to borrow, he says.
He says today he is announcing new fiscal rules, so that the government can borrow, but without being irresponsible.
He says his first rule will be to have a balanced, current budget.
He says in his first budget, in the new year, he will announce plans to level up the whole of the country. There will be more money for new schools and hospitals, and for better broadband.
We will borrow some more to invest, but we know all too well what happens if debt gets out of control.
He says the second rule is that the government will only borrow to invest. That means:
Javid said under the Tories investment will not exceed 3% of GDP. He says the average in the past has been 1.8%, and so this is a big increase.
He says his third rule is that, if debt interest starts to rise significantly, the borrowing limit will be reviewed.
Sajid Javid, the chancellor, is giving a speech on the economy in Manchester.
He says the biggest fear that business has is a government led by Jeremy Corbyn.
He says the fundamentals of the economy are strong.
The IMF forecasts that next year the UK will grow faster than France, Italy, Germany and Japan, he says.
Here is my Guardian colleague Owen Jones, who of course is a prominent and active Jeremy Corbyn supporter, responding to Ian Austin’s announcement that he is backing Boris Johnson.
In his speech later today John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, will say that Labour would spend £150bn over five years through a “social transformation fund” on items such as schools, hospitals, care homes and council houses.
This is in addition to Labour’s plans to spend £250bn over 10 years through a green transformation fund.
The Labour party press notice with details of the plan is here. And our overnight story about the plan is here.
On the Today programme this morning Paul Johnson, the director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said this would be an “absolutely enormous increase” on what the government spends on investment. It would take the UK from near the bottom in international league tables on investment to near the top. He said the plan did raise questions about how much borrowing might have to rise, and about how it would be paid for. But he suggested that the main short-term problem might be whether or not it would be possible for government to spend so much so quickly. He explained:
In an interview on the Today programme this morning Nigel Farage, the Brexit party leader, dismissed reports that around 20 of the 600-odd candidates he is fielding in the election have decided not to stand. He said he was still committed to standing candidates all over Britain, and he went on:
Jo Swinson, the Lib Dem leader, has joined Ian Austin in attacking Jeremy Corbyn for his record on antisemitism, tweeting this front-page editorial addressed to non-Jews from the Jewish Chronicle.
All the major newspapers in the north of England are today backing the plans set out in the first Manifesto for the North.
In a Guardian article, Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, explains what this campaign is about. Here is an extract.
And here is Burnham’s full article.