Labour drafts in Remoaner ex-Bank of England chief Mark Carney as a new adviser
Mark Carney will advise Labour on how to implement its national wealth fund - which would be worth more than £7billion - to leverage private investment.
Former Bank Of England Chief Mark Carney Backs Labour
Mark Carney, the former Bank of England Governor who frequently ruffled the feathers of Brexiteers during his time in office, has been recruited by the Labour Party as an adviser.
Mr Carney is set to advise Labour with others including Barclays Group Chief Executive CS Venkatakrishnan.
Meanwhile, Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves has sought to temper public expectations by saying she was "under no illusions" about the scale of the public spending challenge she would face if she entered, as well as refusing to rule out real-term cuts to some departments.
Mr Carney served in the post from 2013 to 2020, during which time he issued frequent warnings about the damage he believed quitting the European Union would inflict on the nation’s economy.
In 2018, for example, he warned: “We know from our contacts with business, others know from their contacts, that less than half the businesses in the country have initiated their contingency plans for a no-deal Brexit.”
Also that year, in response to confirmation by then-Chancellor Philip Hammond that Mr Carney’s tenure was being extended until 2020, former Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage posted on X: “Truly appalling decision to extend Mark Carney's term at the Bank of England. He is a Remainer, how can we take this government seriously?”
Speaking yesterday, Ms Reeves said she has to be "honest that we're not going to be able to turn things around straight away", but vowed that the Labour Party would keep its promises on education and health spending and would hope to secure more revenue through economic growth.
She also acknowledged that "public services need more money" but a spending review, which would set departmental budgets, is not something she can do from opposition.
The Office for Budget Responsibility has said the current Government plans "imply no real growth in public spending per person over the next five years", while the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies accused both the Conservatives and Labour of a "conspiracy of silence" about public spending after the election.
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On BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Ms Reeves was asked to confirm whether there would be real-terms cuts to some government spending.
She replied: "It is clear that the inheritance that a Labour government would have if we do win the next election will be the worst since the Second World War.
"And I have to be honest that we're not going to be able to turn things around straight away. But we will get to work on all of that."
She confirmed that plans for school breakfast clubs and measures to reduce NHS waiting lists would still go ahead, even though Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has already implemented the measures to tax non-doms which would have paid for them and instead put the money towards a cut in national insurance.
"I do know that public services need more money - that's why we will make that initial injection."
Labour has pledged to invest £7.3billion in the fund to support the growth of a zero-carbon economy, with each £1 of public money required to bring in £3 of private sector investment.
Ms Reeves said: "The idea is to leverage in private sector investment alongside a government endowment to invest in some of the jobs and industries of the future, from carbon capture and storage to green hydrogen and green steel, floating offshore wind and so much more - areas where we can be a world leader, where we can bring good jobs paying a decent wage to Britain, start to bring people's energy bills down and also boost our economic security by boosting our domestic energy security."
The Tories said Labour's spending commitments on school breakfast clubs and NHS improvements were unfunded following Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's Budget, which deprived Ms Reeves of the non-dom funding.
Chief Secretary to the Treasury Laura Trott said: "For five days Labour have been unable to say how they're going to pay for their unfunded spending commitments.
“That's because they don't have a plan to pay for it and that means higher taxes, taking us back to square one."
