New UK finance minister vows to power economy

LONDON: New UK finance minister Rachel Reeves vowed Monday to immediately “fix the foundations” of Britain’s economy, fuelled by onshore wind power and house building, after her Labour party won power.

In her first major speech since being appointed the UK’s first woman chancellor of the exchequer by new Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Reeves said there was “no time to waste” on reversing “the legacy of fourteen years of chaos and economic irresponsibility” under Conservative rule.

Reeves, 45, takes over as chancellor with Britain’s economy recently out of recession, the country’s inflation rate back to normal levels and as the Bank of England prepares to cut interest rates.

Centre-left Labour, which had put growing the UK economy at the heart of its manifesto, won last Thursday’s general election with a sizeable majority.

“New Treasury analysis I requested over the weekend exposed the opportunities lost” under the Conservatives, Reeves told business leaders in London.