Defence Secretary John Healey has defended Chancellor Rachel Reeves and claimed she is responsible for stabilising the economy and reducing the cost of living.
Speaking to Camilla Tominey on GB News, he also denied that sacking the Home Secretary showed that there was chaos in Government: “On Yvette Cooper, we've seen in this last year some important progress, 35,000 people deported from this country higher than before, because they've got no right to be here.
“More than 300 raids on criminal networks by the National Crime Agency, and now, for the first time, illegal immigrants held, detained and ready to return to France, because of what Yvette Cooper has been able to negotiate with the French Government for the first time.
“Shabana Mahmood has a lot more to do, and this will become a whole of Government effort, not just something for the Home Office.
“You'll see in Keir Starmer say, look, military planners are now in alongside the Home Office in Border Command, and also looking at sites, sites that are military, sites that are not military, that may allow us to accelerate the closure of these expensive hotels.”
He said: “I have to tell you, I'm proud to have been part of what this Labour Government has done in its first year.
“Four million more NHS appointments, half a million more kids now getting free school meals, three million low paid workers with a pay increase, because of what we've done with the living wage, I was able to bring in the biggest armed forces pay increase for more than 20 years, and we're putting the biggest increase into defence spending now since the end of the Cold War.”
He added: “Rachel Reeves has been the foundation for many of the decisions taken over the last year, she's also been responsible for the stability that's seen the Bank of England cut interest rates five times in the last year, the rise in real wages, and as I say, the ability to give the lowest paid, three million of them, a double digit increase in the living wage.
“People are starting to feel, but not yet convinced, that the cost-of-living pressures rise are relieving. They're starting to see action in the economy. And it's actually the case that Britain was the fastest growing G7 economy in the first six months of this year.
“There is growth back in the economy after a decade of stagnant growth. But it needs more done on economic growth. Defence has got a big part to play, and I'm determined that we do that.”
