Anneliese Dodds says government must ‘reassess’ fiscal rules in first speech since resignation

Anneliese Dodds has urged the government to “reassess” its fiscal rules and pledges on taxation in her first commons speech since her resignation.

Dodds, the former international development minister, expressed her “deep regret” that she could not continue to serve in the government she campaigned to elect, after resigning over the cuts to foreign aid earlier this year.

Speaking from the House of Commons backbenches for the first time in years, the Labour MP reflected on the current moment of “unprecedented geopolitical and economic flux.”

She said: “There’s no muscle memory in government, or indeed in politics, for the instability we are currently seeing.

“And as democracy backslides globally, instability is the new normal. It demands a strategic, not a tactical, response.

“Economically, I believe, as I set out in my [resignation] letter, that we must be prepared to reassess shibboleths, whether they be the fiscal rules, as Germany has done, or on taxation, especially when the very best-off have seen so little impact on their well-being from economic headwinds.”

Dodds went on to address looming threats to the UK’s democratic norms.

She said: “Now, I believe, that we need the same strategic, not tactical approach when it comes to the protection of our democracy. Last summer, saw the worst racist riots in our country since the Second World War.

“None of us can forget those appalling scenes when racist thugs set fire to hotels, knowing people remained inside. And all in the name of three poor, beautiful little girls. May they rest in peace.”

She added: “In that vein, paralleling the prime minister’s push for a UK-EU defence partnership, we surely also need a UK-EU structured dialogue on digital policy and the defence of our democracies.”

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