British finance minister Rachel Reeves spelled out her plans to revive the country's slow-moving economy on Wednesday, adding to recent pledges to reform investment and planning rules with a commitment to back airport expansion at Heathrow.

Rachel Reeves didn’t dare mention farmers during a speech about growth on Wednesday but they made sure there was no forgetting them - or her inheritance tax raid. Dozens of furious farmers, with their tractors in tow, descended on the lawn of Siemens Healthineers in Oxford where the Chancellor was delivering her plans for growth.

The airport’s plan to build a third runway received parliamentary approval in June 2018, but has been delayed by legal challenges and the pandemic.

The Lower Thames Crossing has been endorsed by Chancellor Rachel Reeves as the controversial project connecting Kent and Essex takes a drastic step forward.

British finance minister Rachel Reeves will say on Wednesday that she is ready for a fight to push forward her plans to speed up the country's slow-moving economy that have grown in urgency after this month's bond market slump.

Rachel Reeves will pledge to “fight” for “growth” and say that Britain “can do so much better” in a major speech, after Cabinet ministers were ordered to ditch policies that could stand in the way of growing the economy.