• 2 months ago
Our Westminster Correspondent Alexander Brown analyses the Chancellor's speech at Labour conference

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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 ┬г2.5 billion from the deficit and there's
01:03another ┬г20 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

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