Political Opinion: Moving our country forwards

The past few days have seen major announcements regarding our economy and future prosperity. The historic US-UK trade deal was announced last Thursday, following hot on the heels of the deal with India, and then yesterday we saw news that our economy is now the fastest growing in the G7.

Whilst some of the decisions the Government has had to make so far haven't been easy, Labour’s plans to drive our country forward and accelerate economic growth are working.

Under the previous Conservative administrations, growth and productivity levels were anaemic - and this hit living standards hard. This Labour government was elected on our promise of an end to the Tories' doom loop of low growth, low productivity and low wages. And we're doing just that.

Two weeks ago, Prime Minister Keir Starmer agreed a first-of-its-kind economic prosperity deal with the US. The agreement is good news for the UK and the thousands of UK exporters who depend on our trading relationship with the US. The deal represents billions of dollars of investment and opportunity.

It protects UK industry by abolishing tariffs on steel and aluminium and the getting the best deal for automobile exports. The UK steel industry – which was on the brink of collapse just weeks ago – will now have access to the entire US market tariff-free, securing countless jobs in Scunthorpe.

Car export tariffs will reduce from 27.5% to 10% - saving hundreds of millions a year for companies like Aston Martin. This will apply to a quota of 100,000 UK cars, almost the total the UK exported last year.

The deal is also a huge vote of confidence in Britain, keeping us an open, outward looking nation and an exciting place for businesses to thrive.

Last Thursday, it was announced the UK economy had grown by 0.7% between January and April. That’s faster than the US, Canada, France, Italy and Germany.

These growth figures have been made possible because we have taken decisions to restore economic stability through legislation and investment in infrastructure. And these numbers show our economy is beginning to turn the corner.

It's right to celebrate positive developments but we're clear that there's absolutely no room for complacency and that there is so much more to do. To start improving living standards for everyone to the degree that we want to, we need to go further and faster on reforms that will push us towards more growth. Because we know that growth means more jobs, higher wages and more money in bank accounts. That's the prosperity this Government was elected to deliver and we're getting on with the job.