UK Treasury chief promises 'new age of industrialization' at Labour conference

John Healey says Rolls-Royce plans to invest an extra £300M in British factories

UK’s Treasury chief John Healey promised a "new age of industrialization" in his first Labour conference speech as chancellor of the exchequer, saying he was a "proud optimist" who "believes in Britain." Healey announced that Rolls-Royce would invest an extra £300 million ($398 million) in its British factories in Derby, Bristol, Glasgow, and Rotherham. "This is the new age of industrialization, this is the new confidence in Britain lit by this government, driven forward by business," he said. He said the government would use everything it could to create jobs and industrialize Britain, including directing more taxpayers' money toward British businesses, jobs and innovation. Turning to young people who are not in education, employment or training, Healey said the government has a "moral duty" to ensure it did not "write" anyone off. "The best thing we can offer a young person is not a benefit payment -- it's a first job with training and a wage," he said.   'Money New Labour had in the 90s is simply not there now' Healey also used much of his speech to highlight Labour's record in government while warning that the economic circumstances facing the government differed from those experienced by New Labour in the 1990s. "The money New Labour had in the 90s is simply not there now," he said. Healey said worldwide economic shocks and trade tensions were being felt in the UK, from prices at the pump to the cost of monthly mortgage payments. "These times demand of us a greater resolve, a greater determination and a greater hope, to build a more resilient country," he said. Healey also said his first duty on his first day as chancellor had been fiscal discipline because it "underpins every promise this government makes." "We can't succeed without it," he added. He also criticized the far-right Reform UK party, saying it "offers the opposite" and describing the party as having "dodgy donors and fantasy funding behind every plan." Healey said Reform UK leader Nigel Farage "wants you to think he's a man of the people, but when it comes to the economy he's Liz Truss with a Bitcoin account." "Through the core of the Budget I deliver a month today will be fiscal discipline," Healey said.