Labour conference 2025: Five main takeaways from Rachel Reeves’ speech

“Don’t let anyone ever tell you that there is no difference between a Labour government and a Conservative government.”

Rachel Reeves was defiant as she took to the stage at the 2025 Labour party conference in Liverpool this lunchtime.

In what was one of the most anticipated speeches of this year’s conference, Reeves addressed a packed hall of delegates at the ACC with a speech aimed squarely at bigging up Labour’s achievements in government so far – despite its rocky ride over the past year.

Here are five key takeaways from her speech today:

Read the latest news, analysis and commentary on the 2025 Labour party conference in Liverpool here on LabourList.

Broadside at Truss… and at Burnham?

“I will take no risks with the trust placed in us by the British people,” Reeves told delegates, doubling down on her reputation as a staunch fiscal hawk.

Under her watch, the Treasury will continue to be “unequivocal” in its commitment to economic responsibility – and Reeves didn’t miss the opportunity to point to the Tories’ economic failures under Liz Truss.

She took a swipe at growing calls to slacken the government’s fiscal rules, despite mounting pressure from progressives in Labour.

Reeves did not mention Andy Burnham by name. But given recent chatter of a leadership challenge from the Greater Manchester mayor – and his desire not to be “in hock” to the bond markets – it’s hard not to see it as a thinly veiled retort.

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Say it three times

Education featured heavily in the Chancellor’s speech today. She shared a touching anecdote about school breakfast clubs to highlight the policy’s positive impact on children and young people.

Indeed, learning and skills were the subject of some of her biggest policy announcements today. Reeves committed Labour to putting a library in every primary school across the country by the end of the parliament.

Deputy leadership contender Bridget Phillipson got a shout out too, whom Reeves called a great “champion for working class kids” through her work as Education Secretary.

And the Chancellor’s headline-grabbing new initiative to provide greater support for young people out of work – including a work placement guarantee for those unemployed for 18 months – put Britain’s youth firmly at the heart of her speech.

Feeling the Reform threat

As one might expect, the Tories came under fire during Reeves’ conference address. But far more words were spent warning delegates of the threat posed by Reform.

With Farage’s party continuing to hold a stubborn poll lead, the Chancellor pulled no punches when she went after Reform.

Reeves was keen to big up Labour as the party of work, telling conference that Reform is “not on the side of working people”.

But she quickly doubled down on her attack lines. The Chancellor accused Farage’s party of being “in bed with Vladimir Putin” and having “cheered on the mini-budget of Liz Truss”.

By contrast, the Conservatives were painted as more of an irrelevance than a threat.

It was bound to happen…

It wasn’t long into Reeves’ speech before a protester unfurled a Palestine flag in what has become an almost routine heckle at party conferences.

The Chancellor didn’t let the moment faze her, who quickly retorted that she understands the cause, and pointed to the government’s recent recognition of a Palestinian state.

This was the only major interruption to her address.

No mention of the two-child cap

With pressure mounting on the government from many Labour voices to abolish the two-child benefit cap, many people were listening closely for the slightest hint of movement.

But the controversial Tory-era policy remains on the statute book, and Reeves did not even hint at scrapping the cap.

Progressives hoping for its abolition may hold out hope that the Prime Minister’s speech tomorrow has more in store for them.

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