Rachel Reeves unveils £15bn for trams, trains and buses outside London

Focus on capital spending in northern cities and Midlands is recognition Labour needs better economic story for voters

• Rachel Reeves looks to spending review to shift focus from welfare cuts

Rachel Reeves is announcing 15bn for trams, trains and buses outside London as she launches a charm offensive to persuade fractious Labour MPs that her spending review will not be a return to austerity.

The chancellor has begun meeting groups of backbenchers to argue that the money, part of a 113bn investment in capital projects over the rest of the parliament including transport, homes and energy, would only have happened under Labour.