What Keir Starmer's five missions for government mean for Yorkshire: Rachel Reeves

We need a government that can match this potential and the aspiration that working people and families have - one that is bold, mission driven and stops us lurching from crisis to crisis.

That’s why, this month Keir Starmer launched Labour’s five missions for government, with the first focused on securing the highest sustained growth in the G7.

What will that mission mean to the people of Yorkshire?

Over the last 13 years growth has plummeted. That’s meant we’ve had much less money – leading to the government piling taxes on working people to raise money.

When Labour was last in government growth was much higher – and in fact if it had continued at that rate, we’d have upwards of £40 billion to spend now on things like our schools and hospitals without having to raise a single tax.

But right now, if we continue on the current path, families in Britain will end up poorer than families in Poland by 2030.

Labour knows it’s crucial that that growth comes from good jobs and productivity in every part of the country. Who benefits from that growth matters – which is why our mission is about making every part of the UK more prosperous with everyone gaining from economic growth, not just a few.

When we grow our economy it’s so everyone across Yorkshire can feel their incomes grow faster than their outgoings; so families having more money for a rainy day, and so our high streets feeling vibrant again.

Make no mistake, we know this is a bold mission. But we know we can achieve it with every business, person and place across Yorkshire and the country playing their part.

We’ll start with our Green Prosperity Plan, investing in the new industries of the future - like offshore wind in Hull, and green steel in Sheffield. Our Start-up Review will make sure we’re making Britain the best place to start and grow a business, breathing new life into towns and villages, bringing new shops to places like Armley Town Street.

We will end the dependence on short-term fixes and sticking plaster politics, because Labour is ambitious for Britain, ambitious for our future, and ambitious for Yorkshire.

It’s vital to look to the future like this, but unfortunately, due to Conservative economic chaos, we also need some immediate fixes for the cost of living crisis hitting households right now.

When I am talking to people on the doorstep every week across Yorkshire, so many raise their concerns about their energy bills, due to soar by another 40 per cent in April.

Instead of laying the burden for this crisis on working people again, the government could make fairer choices. Oil and gas giants have made extraordinary profits during this crisis, windfalls of war from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. They should shoulder their share of the cost.

Right now, Labour would extend the windfall tax on oil and gas giants, closing the unfair fossil fuel investment loophole, and taxing profits at the same rate as Norway.

Our plan would make sure energy bills don’t go up in April, and would provide additional support for businesses too.

This is just one of the fairer choices the government can choose to make in this month’s budget, so working people are not facing anxiety going into spring, especially in a month when we have seen real wages falling again.

This is just one of the concerns that people have been raising with me – and with our local Labour teams out every week and weekend.

Being on the campaign trail is vital for understanding the problems facing families and shaping what Labour will do to build a better Britain.

And the hours of door knocking also gives me a chance to refuel in some of Yorkshire’s best independent eateries - one of my favourite things about our county. In Holmfirth last week, I visited Bluebird Bakery for an earl grey and a brownie – and after a big campaigning session in Leeds, local members, and I, visited Blue Tiger in Bramley – one of my favourite places for a curry in our city.

I can’t forget the Sheesh Mahal on Kirkstall Road, though, featured in the BBC’s new drama ‘Better’. Azram and his team know how much I love their food. When I was on the campaign trail with Leeds Labour Students recently we shared pizzas from Grumpy’s in Farsley, powering the team up for the next round of door knocking.

It is these businesses that are creating growth in our local economies that I want to champion.

Growth that can be seen and felt by everyone across Yorkshire, that works with our local communities to raise living standards, and create good jobs to make everyone, not just making a few better off. That is what Labour’s mission for growth is all about.

Rachel Reeves is MP for Leeds West and the Shadow Chancellor