Aside from pledging a summer of fun, Rachel Reeves has been out of the fray in Labour’s leadership battle.
The Chancellor’s main hope for survival has been the fear that moving her from the Treasury would cause ructions in the nervy gilts market.
Reeves cannot have been overjoyed with the published emails written by senior Labour figure Pat McFadden.
He told Peter Mandelson the question faced at every meeting that he attends is ‘who can we tax in order to pay benefits to others’.
After £75billion of tax increases since July 2024, with the ticking time bomb of frozen thresholds and ‘pension sacrifice’ still in the works, there is little more that can be squeezed from the lemon.
