Rachel Reeves Profile picture
Feb 12, 2020 10 tweets 4 min read Read on X
THREAD on flooding in Leeds and across Northern communities, and why it’s time for the Government to finally act. 👇 (1/10)
In 2015, towns and cities across the North of England, including Kirkstall in my constituency, experienced unprecedented floods. These were devastating for local residents and businesses, costing the Leeds City Region more than £500 million. (2/10) Image
In the aftermath of the 2015 floods, the Government assured Northern communities, including Leeds, that it would act to stop similar devastation happening again. I welcomed this and looked forward to working with the Gvt to get effective flood defences for the North. (3/10)
Phase One of the Leeds Flood Alleviation Scheme, which was started before the 2015 flooding, was completed in 2017. However, this does not protect many areas – such as Kirkstall Road – that are most vulnerable to flooding and were hardest hit in 2015. (4/10)
Phase Two currently has a £23 million funding shortfall - which the Government has repeatedly refused to meet. Since 2015, I have been fighting to keep flooding on the Government’s agenda and have done everything I can to hold them to account for their broken promises. (5/10)
In May 2019, I questioned @trussliz about whether the Government would fund the funding shortfall, especially given how climate change is making floods worse. She replied saying the Government was “keen to make progress”, but offered nothing substantial. (6/10)
@trussliz I also invited the Chancellor to visit Leeds to see the plans for the flood defence project and to meet affected residents and businesses for himself. He did not accept the invitation. (7/10) yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/politics/…
@trussliz In September 2019, I wrote to the Chancellor again to press for action. The Government repeated the funding commitments it had already made, without saying anything new. The letter didn’t even reference the £23 million funding gap. (8/10) Image
@trussliz In November 2019, following the awful flooding in South Yorkshire, I warned that climate change would make flooding more frequent and more destructive, and that flood defence funding was more crucial than ever. Still there was no action from the Government. (9/10)
@trussliz Now, after a weekend of flooding in the wake of #StormCiara, I have once again written to the Government urging them to finally put their money where their mouth is and properly fund Leeds's flood defences in the Budget next month. (10/10) Image

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More from @RachelReevesMP

Aug 10, 2023
A Tory bond black hole is leaving Britain paying £251 billion.

That’s 76 times the amount that the Tories lost during Black Wednesday in 1992.

Here’s how poor Conservative economic choices made this happen. 🧵
During the financial crisis, a Treasury fund was set up to profit from the Bank of England’s quantitative easing programme.

It was meant to help the UK recover from the global financial crisis, with the Bank buying up government bonds and assets.

It was working well.
But after 13 years of low growth, the Tories crashing our economy, and inflation soaring - government borrowing costs have spiked.

This has decimated the value of that fund.

In the last three years, the Tories recklessness has turned a £73.6bn asset into a £177.6bn liability.
Read 6 tweets
Sep 29, 2022
The Prime Minister’s radio interviews this morning have made the disastrous situation our economy faces even worse.

Her failure to answer questions about what will happen with people’s pensions and mortgages will leave families across the country facing huge worry. 1/4
It is disgraceful that the family finances of people across the country are being put on the line simply so the Government can give huge unfunded tax cuts to those earning hundreds of thousands of pounds a year. 2/4
This is a serious situation made in Downing Street and is the direct result of the Conservative Government's reckless actions. 3/4
Read 4 tweets
Jan 23, 2022
THREAD 👇

Billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money has been dished out to criminals.
 
Money that could help people and businesses in need – or our stretched NHS.
 
All because the Chancellor's lack of checks for self-certifying business support. 1/7
At least £6.5bn of business support money has gone to fraudsters.
 
In December, I asked why quick electronic checks with HMRC weren’t run before pay outs were made. 2/7

Rishi Sunak failed to give decent answers, so @jreynoldsmp and @patmcfaddenmp wrote to the Chancellor with 10 further questions.

They’ve still not been answered. 3/7

Read 7 tweets
Oct 1, 2021
The cost of living crisis is escalating, and we have a Conservative government refusing to look at how its own choices have led to this.

Instead of letting a difficult winter unfold, they should be using our recovery to make our economy stronger.
Thread.
ft.com/content/08276c…
Today, @Ed_Miliband warned the Conservatives that we're reaching a crunch point with energy prices, and that time is running out.

Conservative complacency is leaving families and businesses exposed to rising energy prices.

We need urgent action on this.
news.sky.com/story/energy-c…
The Conservatives know their planned tax rises on working people and businesses are not good for our economy.

But they're pressing forward anyway.

Read 8 tweets
Sep 20, 2021
NEW: Labour will scrap the private equity carried interest loophole – a loophole that leaves fund managers with a tax break of up to £170,000 a year.

Here’s why [THREAD] 
ft.com/content/16c17b…
How does this deeply unfair loophole work at the moment? 

Firstly, the same rules have applied since 1987, despite huge economic changes. 

Since then, the income fund managers receive in carried interest has been taxed at the rate of Capital Gains Tax, rather than Income Tax.
That means an additional rate taxpayer (someone earning over £150,000) is paying 28% on carried interest - rather than 45% if it was treated as regular income.
Read 8 tweets
Aug 29, 2021
The supply chain crisis is the result of the Tories' Brexit deal and their failure to plan - together with the neglect of vital jobs and ministers' refusal to listen to those working in industry. 1/8
theguardian.com/politics/2021/…
HGV drivers are some of the many overlooked and undervalued workers who are vital to keep our economy moving. @RHANews estimate it could take up to 18 months to tackle the shortfall of HGV drivers. 2/8 rha.uk.net/News/News-Blog…
The shortages we’re seeing in our supermarkets now are only set to escalate in the run up to Christmas. The Tories have no plan to address the issues that are causing these problems - in either the short or the longer-term. 3/8
Read 8 tweets

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