I suppose you want to talk about inflation figures to start with, Morna.

Good morning, Kay.

Inflation?

Well, we welcome the fact, of course, that inflation has returned to its target the first time in nearly three years that it's got there. But unlike conservative ministers, I'm not going to claim that everything is fine, that the cost of living crisis is over. I know that the cost of living crisis is still acute for many families because although inflation When the inflation is falling, of course, it doesn't mean that prices are falling. Those higher prices are still locked in. The choice, really, at this election is between five more years of the same with the Conservatives, leaving working people worse off, or Labour's plan to make working people better off with a comprehensive plan to grow our economy.

How would you describe the working people that you keep referring to?

It's people who go out and earn their money through work. That's what working people are. Who working people are.

That's interesting because your boss said that working people are people who earn their living, rely on our public services, but don't really have a check to write if they get into trouble. That's narrowing down that class quite a lot.

That's just one example, and that's the people who have been hit hardest by the cost of living crisis. But working people are those people who earn their income through going out to work. The vast majority people in our country earn their money in that way. I know that they've been hard hit by the cost of living crisis these last few years, whether it's the price of the weekly food shop, the higher mortgages and rent, especially since the Conservatives mini budget almost two years ago that sent interest rates, mortgage rates soaring, or the higher prices of energy because we've become too reliant on Putin and dictators for our basic energy needs. I know that working families and pensioners as well have been really hit by the cost of living crisis. While the numbers today on inflation are welcome, I'm not going to start claiming that somehow things are all okay today because I know for many people, they're not.

Yeah, I mean, pensioners are not working people by definition, I suppose. But I just wanted to clarify your view on what the boss said on radio, saying that working people, his definition of working people, are people who rely on public services, who earn their living, and can't write a check if they get into trouble. Is that your definition of working people?

Working people are, by definition, Kay, those people who go out and work for their living. But this is more precise than that, Shadow Chancellor.

This is more precise than that. I'm just asking you to clarify if you agree with this description.

Working people are people who go out to work and work for their incomes. Those who are working people are, by definition, really, working people are those people who go out and work and earn their money through hard work.

But are working people, a labor definition, people who can't write a check if they get into trouble? That's very different.

Some people who go out to work haven't been able to build up savings. Many other people who go out to work have had to run down their savings. But there are people who do have savings who have been able to save up, and those are working people as well.

So the leader is wrong to be so defined in his description.

Keir gave an example of the working people that he has in mind, and that includes people. Keir's own experience is when he was growing up and they didn't always have money to pay the bills. Keir's family had their phone cut off when he was little because it wasn't always possible, wasn't always enough money to pay all the bills. That's who Keir has in his mind when he thinks about economic policy and who the economy needs to work for, because the economy is just not working for far too many people today. Whether you've got a small level of savings, whether you've been able to save a little bit more, or whether your savings have now totally disappeared because of the conservative cost of living crisis, you're paying the price for the chaos and decline that we've seen these last few years. That's why at this election, we're seeking a mandate to grow the economy, to mate working people, to make our country better off.

Are you planning to reform council tax at all?

No, we're not planning to reform council tax. We've set out really clearly in our manifesto, the limited tax changes that we will make to be able to make those first steps on improving, turning around our public services. That includes ensuring that private equity is taxed properly, cracking down on non-DOMs to make sure they pay their fair share of tax, asking the energy giants to pay a bit more given the huge profits that they continue to make. But then we've got to grow the economy because we've got this doom loop today where we're stuck with high taxes and low growth, and we need to break out of that because if our had have grown at just the average rate of similar economies these last 14 years, our economy today would be worth £150 billion more. That would mean more money in the pockets of families and more money for our public services. That is why growth is so important.

Okay, you've ruled out an emergency budget. Are you ruling out a fiscal event?

Well, of course, we'll have a budget, but we will go through the proper processes to be able to make those changes around the windfall tax.

Will there be an emergency budget if win in July? You said no to an emergency budget. Will there be a fiscal event in July?

No, we will do things in a proper way. We've seen what happens when the Conservatives did the so-called mini budget without any forecast for the Office for Budget Responsibility. There's a proper process which we will follow because we won't play fast and loose with the public finances. We won't spend money that we haven't got. We will go through the proper processes of a 10-week forecast from the OBR, and then we will present our first budget, which will include those limited tax changes around the windfall tax, around non-DOM taxation, cracking down on tax avoidance, and ensuring that private equity pay their fair share of tax. Then we will use that money for our schools and our hospitals and our police.

Okay, so that is around about September then. But if you win the election, will you be recalling Parliament early?

Well, we haven't had an election yet, and of course, Parliament will return just the week after the general election. But we've been out of office for 14 years now. Of course, we want to crack on. We're not going to, after the election, if we have the privilege of forming the next government, to then go off on holiday. We've got a lot that we want to do, and we will start with that. For me, the first piece of legislation that we would want to introduce in a King's speech would be a new fiscal lock to stop from ever happening again, the mini budget that we had two years ago, to say that when there are permanent and significant changes to tax and spend, there will always be a forecast from the Office for Budget Responsibility. That will be in the first King's speech to bring stability back to our economy, because after 14 years, Kate, stability is changed. Change, and we're determined to return that stability to the UK economy.

Shadow Chancellor, let me ask you about Andy Brown. I'm sure he's come across your radar. He is a former candidate for Labor in Aberdeenshire and North Moray East. He was found to have making pro-Russian posts on social media, which included links to state media outlets doubting Vladimir Putin's role in the Salisbury poisonings, amongst other things. Why couldn't you find this out before he became a candidate?

Well, I hadn't heard of this guy until this morning, and I'm very, very pleased that I will hopefully not have to hear of him again because he's been suspended as a Labor candidate. That is absolutely right. We've taken the swift action. There is no place in the Labor Party for people who don't share our values, who don't share the values of the British public. And so that is why as soon as these postings came to light, we've got rid of him. He's no longer a Labor candidate, and I'm very pleased about that.

But my question is, you're a big party, you're fielding candidates everywhere. How could you not have known? I mean, all you have to do is Google him. There it is.

Well, look, we're in the fourth week of this election campaign, and this has only just come to light. So we're obviously required trawling back through what he's posted. But the most important thing is he's no longer a Labor candidate. We take swift action when people misbehave. That's why, for example, Jeremy Corbin is no longer a Labor MP. He's not a Labor candidate at this election. People don't share our values in the Change Labor Party. It kicked out of the Labor Party, while the Conservatives Party continue to harbor people like Liz Truss, who has caused so much damage to lives of working people up and down the country. We kick out people.

But his name's on the ballot paper as a Labor candidate. That's not the same with Jeremy Corbin. Jeremy Corbin has to stand as an independent because you got rid of him. This guy's a pro-Russia supporter. All of the challenges that has caused, including poisoning people on British soil.

Yeah, which is why he's been suspended and why he will never be a Labor member of Parliament. But he shouldn't have been in the first place, is the argument. But he's unlikely to win. But he shouldn't have been on the first place. Well, fine. But we've got rid of him as soon as these issues came to light. We took swift action as soon as that information was revealed. And that's the right thing that should happen because there is no place in the Change Labor Party under Keir's leadership for people like this. So I'm glad that he's gone. I'm glad that we've taken the swift action to remove him from our party.

Okay. Good to talk to you as always. Thanks for taking the time.

And UK. Thanks.