Brexit<\/a> had created \u201cprofound uncertainty\u201d and left the UK facing the risk of being \u201cstranded between powerful trading blocs as globalisation retreats\u201d, she warned.<\/p>\n\u201cOur fate as a country is inescapably bound with that of Europe,\u201d the Chancellor added.<\/p>\n
Setting out the \u201cdeep damage\u201d of Brexit, Ms Reeves said it had hit gross domestic product (GDP) \u2013 a measure of the size of the economy \u2013 by up to 8% and contributed to higher prices for businesses and consumers.<\/p>\n
She insisted she was not trying to \u201cturn back the clock\u201d on Brexit but to build a \u201cnew and stable future relationship\u201d with Brussels.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere it is in our national interest to align with EU regulation, we should be prepared to do so, including in further areas of the single market,\u201d the Chancellor said.<\/p>\n
\u201cA decision to align should be taken where it would mean higher growth and investment, more jobs and consumer benefits, where the future direction of policy is stable and compatible with the UK\u2019s values and objectives and where the UK\u2019s economy and national security and resilience are preserved or enhanced.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen those principles are satisfied, alignment should be forward-looking and durable, providing the certainty that businesses on both sides need to invest and grow.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow, there are areas in which regulatory autonomy may be necessary for sectors with unique characteristics or strategic importance for the UK, but that should be the exception, not the norm.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Reeves acknowledged she would have to \u201cmake and win the political argument\u201d, with Brexit supporters viewing the ability to diverge from Brussels as one of the key benefits of the UK\u2019s exit from the EU.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cThe truth is this: Britain\u2019s future prosperity will not be built in isolation, but through partnerships with those who share our interests, share our values and share our ambitions.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd no partnership is more important than that between the UK and our European neighbours.\u201d<\/p>\n
Closer alignment with Brussels \u201cis the right course for our country, a course chosen as a sovereign nation, a course chosen in our national interest\u201d.<\/p>\n
Ms Reeves also set out plans to increase regional economic growth, including by giving local elected leaders greater spending powers, with proposals to hand them a share of income tax and other national levies to invest in their areas.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat most distinguishes Britain from our closest peers is the relative underperformance of our major cities outside of London compared to their European counterparts,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are huge gains to be made if we can only close that gap, if we back Manchester and Liverpool and Leeds to match and overtake Stuttgart, Turin and Lyon.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Reeves said a plan for future fiscal devolution, setting out proposals to give regional leaders control of a share of national taxes, would be published along with the budget later this year.<\/p>\n
The Chancellor also set out \u201ccity investment funds\u201d backed by \u00a32.3 billion of funding, focused on northern England and the West Midlands, giving regional leaders control of \u201clong-term, self-sustaining capital\u201d to invest, with a commitment to the retention of business rates.<\/p>\n
Ms Reeves also promised action to support artificial intelligence (AI) and other advanced technologies.<\/p>\n
A \u00a3500 million sovereign AI unit is intended to help AI firms grow and stay in the UK, an AI adoption summit will be held in June and a new AI Economics Institute will examine the impact of the technology on jobs.<\/p>\n
Up to \u00a32 billion will be spent over the next decade on quantum technology.<\/p>\n
Shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride claimed the focus on Brexit was an attempt to distract from the damage done by Labour in office.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cRachel Reeves wants to blame everybody else but herself for her dreadful management of the economy.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter \u00a366 billion in tax rises, growth has stalled, business confidence has collapsed, inflation is higher and unemployment is rising.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut instead of owning the damage she\u2019s done, Reeves is dragging us back into the old Brexit arguments.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Chancellor is utterly deluded and gaslighting the public to cover her own failures.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":832071,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5226],"tags":[802,748,2000,299,5187,1699,4884,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-832070","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brexit","8":"tag-brexit","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-eu","11":"tag-europe","12":"tag-european","13":"tag-european-union","14":"tag-great-britain","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116245402371901901","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/832070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=832070"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/832070\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/832071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=832070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=832070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=832070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}