'Bidenomics' to become blueprint for future Labour government

In US speech, shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves will say UK risks being sidelined if it does not change its approach

British Labour shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves in New York. Her party aims to follow a US approach to create jobs and opportunities. Getty Images

British shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves will embrace “Bidenomics” as a blueprint for a future Labour government in a speech in the US on Wednesday.

Ms Reeves will tell an audience in Washington that the UK risks being sidelined if it does not change its approach, pledging to “rebuild the industrial foundations that we have lost, and which have left us exposed to global shocks”.

The plan will entail investing in sectors and technologies that will “shape Britain's future success”, the opposition Labour Party said.

The new strategy, which Labour is branding “securonomics”, will mean a more active state and stronger industrial focus.

The party's flagship £28 billion-a-year “green prosperity plan” echoes US President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act and will be central to its industrial strategy, the Financial Times reported.

Mr Biden's programme seeks to curb inflation by cutting the deficit and investing in domestic energy production while promoting clean energy.

Ms Reeves told BBC Radio 4's Today show on Wednesday the securonomics approach is about recognising that for "too many families, that link between hard work and fair contribution has been broken".

"And at the same time our national economic security has been challenged by a series of global shocks, which Britain has struggled to bounce back from, with high inflation and low growth," she said.

"Securonomics is about trying to build greater security for families and greater security for the national economy by drawing on the contribution of more people in more parts of the country. But also about that strategic partnership between an active and agile state partnering with business to take advantages of those opportunities."

In interviews with the FT and the Daily Mirror, Ms Reeves said the party would draw on the US leader's approach to create better jobs and opportunities.

She is also expected to use her speech to pledge to deepen ties with international allies.

“Nations who share values and concerns, and who want to seize the opportunities of tomorrow, can and must work together,” Ms Reeves is expected to say.

On Labour's proposed economic approach, Ms Reeves will say: “It begins by accepting that the world has changed and Britain must change with it.

“In our age of insecurity, we have discovered the weaknesses of our old economic model: too unambitious about the role an active state can play, too willing to believe that wealth will trickle down, and too reliant on the contribution of a few places, a few industries and a few people.

“Investing in the industries and technologies that will determine our future economic success, and building financial security in each and every household in Britain with good jobs, decent pay and fair working conditions to ensure that working people can contribute to our national success, and that financial security underpins our economic strength.

“From the ashes of the old model, securonomics emerges: building the industries that guarantee Britain's economic security, forging resilience at home, while creating new partnerships abroad and bringing together an active state in partnership with a vibrant market.”

Labour said the approach would be set out in further detail in its paper, A New Business Model for Britain, which is due to be published on Wednesday.

The next UK general election must take place by late January 2025.