At the CBI’s conference in Westminster, Ms Newton-Smith urged Ms Reeves to stand up to Labour’s backbenchers to take tough decisions on issues such as cutting welfare spending. She said Ms Reeves had to prove she was committed to economic growth and make the hard choices to deliver it. “That means making hard choices for growth now before they get harder, having the courage to take two tough decisions rather than 20 easier ones. But Ms Reeves will extend a crackdown on benefit fraud in a bid to save £1.2 billion by March 2031. At the CBI conference, Business Secretary Peter Kyle promised measures to slash red tape for firms in the hope of boosting economic growth.
