Reaction to Rachel Reeves speech at Labour conference

Our Westminster Correspondent Alexander Brown analyses the Chancellor's speech at Labour conference

Transcript

00:00Hello, my name is Alexander Brown. I'm the Scotsman's Westminster Correspondent and

00:04I'm here at the very wet and windy Liverpool docks having just heard the

00:08Chancellor deliver her conference speech. In it there was absolutely nothing of

00:13any policy regarding Scotland. While there were these free school meals to be

00:16announced in England, there was nothing that applies to Scotland and in it

00:19essentially it was a speech more about vibes and general positivity. I think

00:23positivity is the real issue for the Labour Party at the moment. They know that there

00:27are doubts over the actual extent of which they're willing to deliver

00:29change in this country and lack of policies that have been coming forth and

00:32there had been said perhaps some hope that maybe we would hear more from the

00:35Chancellor. There would be some measures pre-empted to come in the budget which

00:38happens on October 30th, but instead what we heard was, which is significant, a

00:43promise not to return to austerity. Rachel Riz referenced the damage 14 years

00:47of Tory austerity has done to the budget, has done to the country

00:51and done to our communities and said there will be no return to that which is

00:55all well and good, but at the same time her own MPs are saying well the winter

00:59fuel means testing has cut £2.5 billion from the deficit and there's

01:03another £20 billion to go, so it's easy to say that but there's

01:07still so much cutting to happen that it's very hard to imagine how this

01:10doesn't deliver austerity in her budget, but that's a huge challenge facing the

01:14Chancellor and it does show the rhetoric has changed. The party is aware of the

01:17criticism and desperate to reset the narrative. It's not change is coming, it's

01:21change is beginning. Hopefully at some point we'll hear the change has actually

01:25begun, but for now it's change is beginning and positivity is

01:28around the corner even if it's just not here yet. I'm off to dry off and go meet

01:32with some MPs to hopefully convince me that things can get

01:35better and to read about this and more stay tuned to thescotsman.com