Reeves now describes how Labour plans to "rewire" Britain to secure "the supply chain we need for lower bills... and open up new grid connections to competitive tendering".

She says Labour's planned publicly owned Great British Energy company would look to bid into that competition.

Reeves goes on to say Labour is now the "party of home ownership" and plans to raise the stamp duty surcharge on overseas buyers to speed up investment in planning and "to get Britain building".

Reeves now gives a bit more detail on her infrastructure plans, labelling them a "once in a generation set of reforms to accelerate the building of critical infrastructure for energy, transport, and technology".

She goes on, saying Labour wants to "fast-track battery factories, life sciences and 5G infrastructure and to tackle the litigation which devours time and money before we ever see shovels in the ground".

And she says the party will "make sure that when a local community hosts critical national infrastructure, they will feel the benefits, including lower energy bills."

Reeves says a Labour government would commission an independent expert inquiry into the HS2 high-speed rail project to learn lessons for the future.

She adds that many more major spending projects are "running over time and over budget".

The shadow chancellor says her party would examine "line-by-line" every ongoing capital spending project to make sure on day one of a Labour government “we are ready to get Britain building again".

Reeves continues to talk about Labour’s plans to "get Britain building again", saying this will help it "spur investment, restore economic security and revive growth".

She accuses the Tories of making voters believe "we can’t build anything anymore", adding that "in fact, the single biggest obstacle to building infrastructure, to investment and to growth in this country is the Conservative Party itself".

Using HS2 as an example - which recently saw its northern leg cancelled because of spiralling costs - she says Rishi Sunak's government failed to see there was a problem until the project was "already £30bn" over the expected limit.

Reeves adds:

Reeves now moves on to Labour’s aim to create more jobs.

She says the party wants to create “jobs for plumbers, builders and electricians... jobs for scientists, designers and engineers".

She names a number of places that she says will benefit from Labour’s investment in the green transition, including Grangemouth, Middlesborough, Swansea and Hull.

There will be jobs “in every village, town and city across our great country”, she says.

Reeves says "you cannot tax and spend your way to economic growth", arguing the "lifeblood of a growing economy is business investment".

She pledges to restore business investment as a share of GDP to the level it was under the last Labour government, saying this will add an additional £50bn every year to the economy.

She adds that there is a role for government in encouraging investment - and if it wins power Labour would do this by creating a new National Wealth Fund.

Reeves said she would oversee the hiring of a Covid corruption commissioner, "supported by a hit squad of investigators to claw back the money and take the fraudsters to court".

This will get taxpayers "every penny" of their money back and put it where it belongs: the NHS, the police and our schools, she adds.

Image source, PA Media

Labour will wage a war against fraud, waste and inefficiency, Reeves says.

She says there will be three fronts on waste. First, she says Labour would crack down on ministers’ use of private jets.

Second, she says Labour would slash spending on consultants - on which she says the government must demonstrate value for money.

Third, we will "go after" those who profited from the "carnival of waste” during the Covid pandemic, she says.

She says Labour will appoint an anti-corruption commissioner aimed at recovering money lost as a result of fraud and waste.

“We want that money back,” she says, to applause from the audience.

Reeves now repeats Labour's promise to end the "tax loophole" exempting private schools from paying VAT and business rates.

She says that money will go towards helping the 93% of children who attend state schools.

Reeves says a Labour government will "back high streets and small businesses by requiring online tech giants pay their fair share".

Continuing to audience applause, she says Labour would impose a "proper" windfall tax placed on energy giants "so that working people don't bear the brunt of a crisis they didn't create".

Reeves also pledges to abolish the non-dom tax status - which Rishi Sunak's wife Akshata Murthy was controversially found to be claiming at one point - and invest more money into the NHS.

Referencing the economic backdrop, Reeves says she does not underestimate the scale of the task ahead and that "tough decisions" are needed.

She says Labour would not "play fast and loose with the public finances".

Reeves, who was previously an economist at the Bank of England, says she would protect the bank's independence.

She adds that she will also put forward a new "charter for budget responsibility", meaning any government making permanent and significant tax and spending changes would be subject to an independent forecast from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).

"Never again" will we allow a repeat of the "devastation" caused by Liz Truss, she adds - a reference to the then-prime minister's mini-budget, which was not accompanied by a forecast from the OBR.

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

If Sir Keir Starmer wins the general election, he will govern in a double-act with Rachel Reeves.

Already, senior Labour figures say that she is the politician Starmer trusts most for advice on all issues, not just the economy.

Labour have made a concerted effort over recent months to raise Reeves’s profile, given she would be not only at the heart of a Labour government, but their election campaign too.

The lavish introduction she received from Mary Portas, declaring that Reeves would be the best-qualified chancellor ever, is part of the effort to build Reeves’s brand as an experienced economist able to take charge of the public finances from day one.

It is also worth noting that twelve years ago Portas advised David Cameron on the future of the high street.

Now onto the main crux of her speech, Reeves says Labour is "ready to serve, ready to lead, ready to rebuild Britain."

She also says, if elected into government, Labour "will not waver from iron clad fiscal rules".

Reeves says Labour’s defining economic mission is to restore growth.

But she says it’s “no use simply claiming we want economic growth without new ideas”.

Understanding the world today, she says, is crucial to this. Globalisation as we once knew it is dead, she says.

“In this new age of insecurity, it is no longer enough - if it ever was - for government to turn a blind eye to where things are made or who is making them,” she says.

She says the UK must renew its ability to make and sell more to boost security.

Reeves accuses the Conservatives of causing "mayhem" and "crashing the economy".

"You can never trust the Tories with our economy ever again," she adds.

She claims the Tories seem to be "bereft of ambition" and in opposition already.

"Liz Truss might be out of Downing Street but she is still leading the Conservative Party."

The hall for Rachel Reeves speech is full, including front row seats for the shadow cabinet and Labour grandees.

Arguments broke out as a huge queue of disappointed attendees were turned away at the door.

The shadow chancellor tells delegates there is ultimately one choice at the next general election, which must happen by January 2025:

"Five more years of the Tory chaos and uncertainty, which has left working people worse off - or a changed Labour Party ready to strengthen Britain’s foundations, so working people are better off.”

Reeves shares what she believes is “Labour’s task" in the coming months and years - "to restore hope to our politics".

She goes on:

Reeves tells the conference "it is only through power that we can put our principles into action".

She says that under Keir Starmer's leadership, this opportunity is "finally within our grasp" - but only if the party allows "no complacency".

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves begins by making a "commitment" - that out of the "wreckage" of the Conservative government that Labour will "get Britain its future back".

To do this, her party will "restore our economic credibility, lift living standards, rebuild our public services and invest in homegrown industries", she says to a big applause.