Otto von Bismarck was Germany’s ‘Iron Chancellor’ unifying his nation in the 19th century.
In the UK, Rachel Reeves, is no iron Chancellor – she grandly has talked of ‘securonomics’ and defence industries as an engine of growth.
But when a big step-up in military spending was required, as proposed in former Nato chief Lord Robertson’s defence investment plan, she cavilled.
She told a business audience this week that if the country wanted to up the defence budget, she would have to raise taxes, rather than allow borrowing to rise.
The resignation of veteran Labour apparatchik John Healey as Defence Secretary shows how unworldly Reeves is proving.
