It was a pleasure to be in Leeds today to give my keynote speech as Lib Dem Shadow Chancellor.
Things need to change. Too many people can’t live a secure, happy and fulfilling life. And too many businesses face crippling uncertainty over their future.
The economic debate in this election has been between two fantasies. Between Conservative fantasies of the days of empire or Labour fantasies of failed ’70s socialism. Both Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn will only take our country backwards.
They’re both pursuing a Brexit that’s already costing our economy £1 billion every week. And that’s before we have even left. If we actually leave the EU, the lost growth could mean another recession. This will hit the most vulnerable the hardest.
It’s simple – no economic plan is remotely credible if it doesn’t start with stopping Brexit. In comparison, by cancelling Brexit, we can generate a £50 billion Remain Bonus. We will invest this in schools and tackling our country’s shameful levels of inequality.
But that’s not all. If we’re going to build a better future for our children, we must decarbonise capitalism. As Chancellor of the Exchequer, I’ll authorise £100 billion of spending to fight the climate crisis.
We’ll spend this smartly, too. This money includes a £10 billion Renewable Power Fund to generate an extra £100 billion of private sector investment. This will catapult Britain to the forefront of clean energy generation. It’ll make us a world leader in not just off-shore wind, but tidal power.
Not only that, we’ll invest £15 billion in greener heating. We want to end fuel poverty by 2030. We’ll invest in insulation, cutting energy usage and bills, and ensuring everyone can live in a properly heated home.
The Liberal Democrats have a real plan to stop Brexit and fight the climate crisis. Only a vote for us on the 12th December is a vote for a brighter future. And I’m excited to get to work making that happen!