Rachel Reeves emphasising “my” not “our” Budget smacked of a Chancellor trying to re-establish authority over an underling as well as a Prime Minister. Keir Starmer reinforced his economic firepower with the appointment of the former Bank of England deputy governor Minouche Shafik as a No 10 adviser, but Reeves was also miffed that her Treasury junior Torsten Bell was hogging the limelight. Reeves asked Bell’s successor as leader of the Resolution Foundation, Ruth Curtice, to stay behind at the end of a meeting so she could vent over questions bombarding her office about whether the think tank’s ideas would become official policy because he’s heading Budget preparations.
Reeves, the UK’s first female chancellor and author of a book on female economists, resents sexist assumptions that her decisions are shaped behind the scenes by a male rising star. It’s a brave move to accept sole responsibility for a tax-raising, manifesto-breaking, promise-smashing, politically taxing U-turn.
Nor has landlady Reeves escaped entirely unscathed from the furore over the improper renting out of her south London house, despite the estate agent carrying the can for failing to secure the required licence. The Chancellor’s friends blame her civil service hubby, Nicholas Joicey, for a family performance more Trabant than Rolls-Royce. Other Labourites are distinctly queasy that a cabinet minister who burned the winter fuel allowance and tried to kick away financial crutches from the sick and disabled is charging her own tenants £3,200 a month. Being a member of the rentier class at least means Reeves is able to tax herself in the Budget, snarled a disgruntled MP.
The Treasury talk before the Chancellor’s breakfast speech on 4 November, which left voters nervously counting the cornflakes, was that new betting taxes could raise an extra £1bn, way below the £3bn championed by Gordon Brown when he was in the chancellor’s office to fund the end of the cruel Tory two-child benefit cap. Labour Marxists want higher bank taxes whereas the party’s Methodists target gambling. Son of the manse Brown favours both.
Tax cuts-cutter Nigel Farage may also be ditching fairer voting. The Reform UK leader raged that first past the post required replacing when 14.3 per cent of the vote in 2024 translated into a measly five MPs. His suave deputy, Richard Tice, a human Ken doll, explicitly called for proportional representation (PR). Not any more. Reform is hoping to emulate Labour and snatch power on or around 34 per cent. Asked on 3 November if he still backed PR, Farage dodged an answer. Reform doesn’t like reform when it’s winning.
Starmer endured 24 questions at a recent grumpy Parliamentary Labour Party meeting, and one attendee moaned the PM lost the room within four minutes. Morale among Labour MPs is almost on the floor. One insider told the New Statesman that the big question of “how long it can be Keir” is increasingly heard. Grim times, grim humour. One “happy” backbencher sarcastically described the meeting as a “triumph” seven hours before it started. Another was “really excited” because the parliamentary gym would be quieter while toadies did their duty cheering Starmer.
Spare a thought for twisting Chris Philp, a shadow home secretary unsure of his own party’s immigration policy. Junior thruster Katie Lam proved no safe pair of hands after her “go home” warning to migrants that have been granted indefinite leave to remain. Questions abounded over whether or not Lam’s line was official Conservative policy, as proposed earlier in the year in draft legislation by her and Philp. Kemi Badenoch eventually quashed the threat.
Did Lam misspeak? “I wouldn’t put it that way,” Philp blustered before trying to change the subject. Wait – so does that mean the Tories would try to deport someone who was here legally? “We’ve updated our policy in this area,” was the best Philp could offer in an interview. Embarrassing.
Flame-haired Louise Haigh’s left leg might have been a few inches longer after it was pulled by Ian Hislop on Have I Got News for You, yet the steely Sheffielder won over the audience at Starmer’s expense. The former cabinet minister, encouraged to resign by the PM over an old and minor lost-then-found mobile case, mocked the government’s poor poll ratings and contrasted her treatment with errant landlady Reeves. “The PM was equally magnanimous with me, which is why I’m really delighted I’m still serving as transport secretary,” quipped Haigh, cuing laughter. Will revenge eventually be hers?
The Tory emissary from the 18th century Jacob Rees-Mogg is warming to Reform, we hear, and no longer completely rules out switching right-wing parties. The beanpole ex-MP was impressed by Farage dumping £90bn fantasy tax cuts and is aware the tiny party has toff-a-lot to offer, particularly parliamentary and cabinet seats. Tories are forming a disorderly queue.
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[Further reading: Labour Co-op MPs make the case for inclusive growth]
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This article appears in the 06 Nov 2025 issue of the New Statesman, Exposed: Britain's next maternity scandal