The prime minister is keen to change the conversation after the Tories called his chancellor’s ethics into question
The political fates of Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves are intertwined. Allies say that if one goes, the other is likely to follow.
This is why, in the wake of the budget, the Conservatives have attempted to focus their response on the chancellor’s personal ethics, accusing Reeves of lying about the rationale behind her record-breaking tax rises.
And it is also why, in response, Starmer has chosen to fight back personally. In a speech on Monday, he will seek to draw a line under the row and refocus attention on the government’s wider economic plan.
Writing for the Guardian before that speech, the prime minister argues: “At the budget last week, we made the right choices for Britain, cutting the cost of energy with £150 off bills, protecting the NHS and tackling the scourge of child poverty by removing the two-child limit.”
