Former Bank of England governor Mark Carney has backed Labour’s Rachel Reeves to be the UK’s next chancellor.
In a video message to the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, Mr Carney – who has been criticised by Brexiteers for Project Fear warnings – described the shadow chancellor as a “serious economist”.
He said: “She began her career at the Bank of England, so she understands the big picture.
“But, crucially she understands the economics of work, of place and family.
“And, look, it is beyond time we put her energy and ideas into action.”
Mark Francois, who chairs the powerful European Research Group of backbench Tory Brexiteers, said it was “ironic” that Mr Carney was now backing Ms Reeves.
He told the Express: “How ironic that a former Governor of the Bank of England, who is also an arch-Remainer, should now endorse the Labour Party, when it was the splurge of quantitative easing, much of which occurred on his watch, that eventually led to a lot of the inflation the economy has recently been suffering from.”
Mr Carney’s comments came after Ms Reeves delivered her speech to the party faithful in the main hall.
In her address, the shadow chancellor said Labour is “ready to rebuild Britain” and restore economic security after the “chaos” of the Conservative years.
Ms Reeves said: “The choice at the next election is this: five more years of the Tory chaos and uncertainty which has left working people worse off or a changed Labour Party offering stability, investment and economic security so that working people are better off.
“It falls to us to show that Labour are ready to serve, ready to lead and ready to rebuild Britain.”
