We're starting to get some reaction to the chancellor's speech.

The Conservatives say the "biggest barriers to growth in this country are Rachel Reeves, Keir Starmer and their job destroying budget", and that "nothing" in today's speech proved otherwise.

Shadow chancellor Mel Stride says the government does "not understand business, or where wealth comes".

Meanwhile the Liberal Democrats have criticised Reeves' "blinkered approach" on Europe, which Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper says is "holding back British businesses and stifling growth".

"The single biggest lever" to help turbocharge the economy, she says, would be "negotiating a new UK-EU trade deal with a bespoke customs union at its heart".

Let's bring you some more details now from Reeves' speech:

• The chancellor says she is working to unlock the potential of the Oxford-Cambridge growth corridor, by funding transport routes including East West Rail and new routes opening this year
• She adds that the growth corridor, dubbed "Europe's Silicon Valley", would drive "investment, innovation and economic growth"
• The government has agreed water resources management plans, unlocking £7.9bn worth of investment in the next five years, including the new Thames reservoir, Reeves says
• When asked if she can rule out taking tax and spending measures in the Spring Statement at the end of March, Reeves says the Statement is two months away and "a lot of things can happen in that time"

The Mayor of London, Labour's Sadiq Khan, has repeated his opposition to the expansion of Heathrow Airport.

Reacting to Rachel Reeves' speech, he tells our colleagues at BBC London that he will challenge the expansion however he can.

In the interview - which you can watch below - he says: "Let's wait and see what the proposals are from Heathrow - but if they don’t meet the objections I’ve set out, I won’t hesitate in working cross-party, working with communities and working with councils to challenge Heathrow Airport."

When asked if this challenge could take place in the courts, he says: "We will use whatever means we can."

We've just heard from the chancellor, who has outlined her plan for growth in the UK economy. If you're just joining us, here's what you need to know:

• The chancellor backed a third runway at Heathrow Airport, saying it was "badly needed", could create 100,000 jobs, and that she wanted "proposals to be be brought forward by the summer"
• She said the government is also "backing Andy Burnham's plans for the redevelopment of [Manchester United's] Old Trafford, which promises to create new housing and commercial development around a new stadium"
• She supported a reopened airport in South Yorkshire, saying: "We will work with Doncaster Council and the Mayor of South Yorkshire Oliver Coppard to support their efforts to recreate South Yorkshire airport city as a thriving regional airport"
• And she also promoted the "Oxford-Cambridge growth corridor", saying the government would back a series of projects to create the "Silicon Valley of Europe"
• On broader policy, she said she had been "genuinely shocked" at how slow the planning process is, and said developers should not have to worry about "the bats and the newts"
• "Low growth is not our destiny, but growth will not come without a fight, without a government willing to take the right decisions now to change our country's future for the better," she said

Dharshini David
Chief economics correspondent

Overshadowed perhaps by that confirmation of a third Heathrow runway, Rachel Reeves confirmed there’ll be a reform of the welfare system, with a focus of disability benefits, unveiled ahead of her Spring Statement on 26 March.

There remains more than 500,000 people not working due to long-term sickness than before the pandemic.

The problem for the government is two-fold: worklessness hampers the efficiency of the economy, getting more people working supports growth ambitions.

But second, the welfare bill is booming: spending on health and disability related benefits is set to rise by a third, to top £100bn by 2030. At a time when the chancellor may look to curb her spending ambitions, aiming to limit that rise will be a tempting option.

The problem is achieving that. Getting people into better health and into work and cutting the cost to the public purse may take a more holistic approach than simply tweaking benefit rules.

And with that, Reeves has finished her speech.

We'll be wrapping up the key lines here shortly, and we'll have reaction and analysis from our correspondents - stay with us for more.

A question from GB News asks whether the chancellor will commit to cutting net migration even if it damages economic growth.

"We will reduce net migration, but taking back control means having more of a say about who comes into this country," Reeves says.

She clarifies that this is why they want to expand visa routes for highly skilled and talented people.

Reeves is asked now if she plans to make any tweaks on taxes on businesses, which she announced in the October Budget.

She says she explained in her speech why she made the decisions she made and that she hears criticism from the Conservative Party - but they have not offered any alternative solution.

Reeves says she'll never play fast and loose with public money and reiterates that she had to make difficult decisions but that she acted in the national interest.

Image source, EPA

Next up is Ed Conway from Sky News who points out that some of the projects will take a long time to accomplish, and asks what the metrics for success will be.

Reeves says the government has "exciting plans that will take the country forward". She says their goal is for living standards for working people to improve.

She says there is no point announcing a third runway at Heathrow Airport if you have the same planning system as we do now, because it will take decades. She repeats this argument for building homes.

Alongside the big plans announced today, we're making changes, she says.

The chancellor has wrapped up her speech and moved on to questions - first up is the BBC's political editor Chris Mason.

He says the "scars in the economy run deep", with impacts being felt from the pandemic, conflicts and financial crisis. Mason asks what she would say to those who say this isn't enough?

Reeves replies, saying there is a "need to go further and faster", and these announcements show they are a government "with ambition that is getting on and delivering".

The expansion of Heathrow, for example, is needed to help connect London to emerging economies, she says, due to a lack of slots at the airport currently.

Just before she announced the government's backing for Heathrow's expansion, the chancellor outlined her plans for Oxford and Cambridge, saying the area has "huge potential" for the UK's growth prospects.

"Only 66 miles apart," she says, the area has the potential to be "Europe's Silicon Valley".

To do that, Reeves adds, she believes a "systematic approach" is needed to attract businesses to come and grow in the country.

The chancellor mentions the lack of availability of fast rail travel between towns and cities in the area, with a lack of affordable housing too.

"The demand is there, but there are far too many supply-side constraints on economic growth here, we are going to fix that," she says.

Reeves says she can announce the government is investing £63m into the advanced fuels fund over the next year.

She adds these measures will encourage more investors to back production in the UK, bringing good, high-skilled jobs to areas like Teesside.

"Demonstrating that investment in the right technology can help us deliver both our growth and our clean energy mission," the chancellor adds.

Reeves' full-throated backing for third runway at Heathrow is a big dealpublished at 10:55 Greenwich Mean Time 29 January

10:55 GMT 29 January

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

Even though we pretty much knew it was coming, Rachel Reeves’ clear, full-throated backing for a third runway at Heathrow is a big deal.

She did not just back it – she lambasted previous governments for having supported a runway without the building work ever beginning.

That is surely therefore the high stakes test for Reeves: is she the chancellor under whom this runway will actually begin to be built?

After all, Reeves herself acknowledged that this is just the start of a long process, beginning with Heathrow submitting proposals by the summer.

There will be other hurdles after that.

Clear them, and that will be Reeves’s rebuttal to those who, she said, have seen the delays to the project as a sign of the UK’s lack of “seriousness about improving our economic prospects”.

Yet if the same delays recur, Reeves – by her own logic – will show that this government is not as serious as it purports to be about economic growth either.

Speaking about the government's support for an expansion at Heathrow Airport, Reeves says she's inviting proposals to be brought forward by the summer.

"I can confirm today that this government supports a third runway at Heathrow and is inviting proposals to be be brought forward by the summer," she says.

"We will then take forward a full assessment through the airport national policy statement.

"This will ensure that the project is value for money and our clear expectation is that any associated service transport costs will be financed through private funding.

"It will ensure that a third runway is delivered in line with our legal, environmental and climate objectives."

As expected, Chancellor Rachel Reeves is backing the plans for a third runway at Heathrow Airport, saying it could create 100,000 jobs. "A third runway is badly needed," she says, adding the government "cannot duck the decision any longer".

Reeves says the government is backing the mayor of Manchester, Andy Burnham’s plans for the redevelopment of Old Trafford, which she says promises to create housing and commercial development around a new stadium.

She says they are moving forward with the Wrexham and Flintshire investment zone, which will be backed by major businesses.

The government plans a "new approach" to planning applications around stations, changing the "default answer to yes".

She adds they will be working with devolved governments, including by "partnering with them" on industrial strategy.

She adds they will review the "Green Book", which is used to evaluate big investment projects, and how advice is supplied to areas outside London.

"This means investment in all regions is given a fair hearing by the Treasury," she says.

Reeves says she will go further in kick starting economy, saying the government's mission is about raising living standards everywhere in the UK.

She says Manchester is home to UK's fast growing tech sector - and Leeds is the biggest financial hub outside of London.

Reeves says there is "so much more" the government can do to support to support city regions, and that two key areas need focus to achieve this: infrastructure and investment.

"We can unlock their true growth potential," she says by making it easier for people to live and travel across the area, adding she is delivering railway schemes for people across the north of England and committed to supporting the delivery of a mass transport system in West Yorkshire.

Moving onto GDP, the chancellor says the government has changed course on public investment, spending 2.6% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on average over the next five years, compared to 1.9% planned by the previous government.

This will deliver an additional £100bn of growth enhancing capital spending, Reeves says, which will catalyse private sector investment in housing, transport links and clean energy.

Reeves says the government has already provided funding for aerospace, automotives, and life sciences.

The government has set out reforms to boost financial services, the AI sector, and the creative industries, she adds.

Reeves says "we are not wasting any time", adding that the government will work with the private sector to deliver the infrastructure that the country needs.

She says this includes the Lower Thames Crossing, which will alleviate congestion. She adds that they are exploring options to privately finance this project.