Louise Haigh to set out economic polices that can 'unite Labour' in new intervention

Former transport secretary Louise Haigh will outline an economic agenda to help voters with the cost of living in one of her most significant interventions since being forced out of cabinet 18 months ago.

Ms Haigh, an influential figure within the soft-left Tribune group, will speak at an event next week alongside the Labour MP Chris Curtis - a former YouGov pollster seen as a rising star from within the 2024 intake.

Mr Curtis chairs the Labour Growth Group (LGG), a caucus of around 100 Labour MPs who are broadly loyal to Sir Keir Starmer but believe the government must be more radical to bring about growth that puts more money in people's pockets.

While from different wings of the party (the LGG defines itself as moderate), the pair will outline polices they believe can unite both the party and Labour's wider voter coalition. They want to challenge the assumption that Labour MPs, who have forced the government into several U-turns, are unmanageable and nothing can unite them.

Speaking together on a panel at the Good Growth Foundation's National Growth Debate, they are expected to make the case for a revamp of council tax and stamp duty as well as regulatory reform to encourage investment and support businesses to grow.

They will argue that this is not about left or right, but a plan that pitches Labour against the status quo rather than as its defenders, with an economy that rewards hard work and takes on profiteering.

Tuesday's event will also hear from senior cabinet ministers including Chancellor Rachel Reeves, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband and Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister Darren Jones.

It follows a difficult week for the government after another turn in the Peter Mandelson vetting scandal led to fresh calls for the prime minister to resign.

An LGG source told Sky News: "People are fed up of week after week of firefighting when we need to be talking about how we're going to change the country.

"This concept that government can't do that because the PLP (Parliamentary Labour Party) can't be united is nonsense. There's an agenda that can unite Labour MPs and the country and they're (Chris and Lou) going to show that this week."

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Ms Haigh was forced to resign in November 2024 after it emerged she had pleaded guilty to an offence related to incorrectly telling police that a work mobile phone was stolen in 2013.

However, she remains well respected by colleagues who credit her with Labour's railway nationalisation. Last year she was involved in reviving the Tribune group, which has been pushing for the government to have bolder, more progressive policies.

Sky News understands that Ms Haigh is leading a piece of work for the Tribune group on tax and institutional reform. She has previously called for an overhaul of the Office for Budget Responsibility, and is expected to expand on that in the coming weeks.

In a sign of frustration coming from all factions of the party, the LGG has separately drawn up a blueprint for how Labour could cut taxes and incentivise small businesses as part of an overhaul of its economic strategy.

As Sky News reported last month, the report will be published following May's local elections, which are expected to be disastrous for Labour and will pile further pressure on the government for a change of direction.

Growth debate 'to define next decade of politics'

Labour's manifesto has pledged to grow the economy, but there have been concerns the chancellor's self-imposed fiscal rules will make that difficult to achieve.

The war in the Middle East has posed another blow, with experts predicting the UK will be harder hit than other advanced economies.

The Good Growth Foundation's (GGF) director is Praful Nargund, who stood as Labour's candidate in Islington North at the general election, which Jeremy Corbyn held onto as an independent. As well as running the GGF he is a skills adviser to the Department for Work and Pensions.

The think tank is campaigning for a fairer economy that prioritises growth which improves living standards.

Nick Thomas-Symonds, the minister in charge of EU relations, will not give a public address but will host a private roundtable on the UK-EU relationship at the event.

The event will also hear from opposition figures, including the Conservatives' shadow chancellor Mel Stride, Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper, and the Green Party's Treasury spokesperson Adrian Ramsay MP.

Attendees will include business leaders, unions, campaign groups and think tanks as well as MPs.

Mr Nargund said: "We are living through an era of permanent volatility - and people are feeling it. Rising costs, stretched services, the sense that decisions made thousands of miles away can upend your finances overnight. Good growth is the most powerful tool we have for changing that: for giving people back their economic stake, their security, and the confidence that if they work hard, they can get on in life.

"For our inaugural National Growth Debate, we have brought together ministers, mayors, CEOs, unions and campaign groups to ask: how can we build an economy where prosperity and opportunity are felt across the country? The answer to that question will define the next decade of British politics - and today we start the debate."

(c) Sky News 2026: Louise Haigh to set out economic polices that can 'unite Labour' in new intervention