It’s been a better week for Rachel Reeves. On Tuesday, the Chancellor comfortably dismissed the shadow chancellor Mel Stride’s cod-Shakespearean performance in the House of Commons. (“You can see what happens when the leader of the opposition tells the shadow cabinet that they shouldn't have any policies,” Reeves quipped.) Then yesterday an unexpected fall in inflation to 2.5 per cent saw UK bond yields plummet – reducing the government’s borrowing costs – and raised hopes of a cut in interest rates by the Bank of England next month. Finally, figures released this morning suggest the economy – just – returned to growth last November (having contracted by 0.1 per cent in the two previous months). But output of 0.1 per cent was still below ...

Once again, it was a day of open goals for the Tories to score against Labour: the ongoing volatility in the UK economy and the tricky situation faced by Rachel Reeves, the resignation of city minister Tulip Siddiq amid a foreign corruption scandal, the row over the Chagos Islands handover, and most recently the suggestion that former Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams could be in line for taxpayer compensation if the government repeals parts of 2023 Northern Ireland legacy legislation. Kemi Badenoch went for all of them – with mixed success. Having been burned in previous weeks, the Tory leader had a few extra tricks up her sleeve. First, she tried to pre-empt Keir Starmer’s inevitable defence that Britain’s current economic woes are the ...

The last general election saw the strange rebirth of Liberal England. Ed Davey’s party won 72 seats – its best result since it was launched in its current form in 1988. Indeed, the Lib Dems now have more seats than any third party since 1923 (when the Liberals won 158). But how do they intend to use their enhanced status? Strategists say the Lib Dems have two priorities for this parliament: the first is being a “better opposition” than the Tories. By this they mean focusing on issues of substance – such as social care reform – rather than ones of style or personality. Second, the Lib Dems want to embed their new MPs as “local champions”. The hope is that by ...

What are the two most important events in history? I’ve been pondering this since 2009. Asked during my Cambridge entrance interview by a don who was wearing three cardigans at once, I panicked and stumbled upon the death of Lenin (I don’t know why either) and a local government act so obscure that I no longer recall its title. Asked to furnish an explanation, I respectfully declined. It’s nice to retain an air of mystery. The rejection was not entirely surprising. The next morning, my school invited freshly minted Oxbridge acceptees on stage for a Soviet-style round of applause that seemed to go on for days. I applauded in the darkness. What could be a better hazing ritual as I joined ...

The Treasury minister, Tulip Siddiq, has resigned from her ministerial position after a criminal case was filed against her and other members of her family by Bangladesh’s anti-corruption commission. Authorities in Bangladesh are investigating corruption and embezzlement allegations made against the country’s previous government, of which Siddiq’s aunt, Sheikh Hasina, had been the prime minister. Hasina fled Bangladesh last August after an uprising against her increasingly violent and autocratic regime. Siddiq had referred herself to the independent adviser on ministerial standards, Laurie Magnus, who found that she had not acted improperly or breached the ministerial code. However, she had lived in more than one London property that appeared to have been linked financially to her aunt, including a flat that was ...

House prices have never been higher, the government spends over 80 per cent of its housing budget on housing benefit, and at least one child in every London classroom is homeless. For a new generation, renting has become the norm. Keir Starmer’s mission to build 1.5 million homes by the end of this parliament is clearly intended to reverse this trend. But focusing too deeply on the UK’s lack of affordable housing and declining home ownership obscures the duality of this crisis: it is one of quantity and quality. Britain’s housing landscape is blighted by a collection of poor-quality homes, many of which fail to meet liveable standards, as determined by the decent homes standard. Some are plagued by damp and black ...

It is now looking increasingly plausible that at some point this year, Rachel Reeves will be required to deliver a combination of tax rises and spending cuts to comply with her fiscal rules. It may even happen in March, when the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) delivers its next economic forecast. If it happens, whenever that might be, it will be a deeply damaging moment for the government and the Chancellor. Reeves’ pitch as shadow chancellor was that she would provide stability and strength. After years of drama and crises, she would provide calm. She would be the anti-Truss: prudent, methodical and reassuring. She would have just one fiscal event a year (which has been long desired by Treasury officials), putting ...

On the day Keir Starmer became Prime Minister there was one appointment above all that was not in doubt – that of Rachel Reeves as Chancellor (“I hope you know,” he quipped as he told her the news). In opposition Reeves had made herself indispensable to Starmer by reviving Labour’s fiscal credibility and improving relations with business. Starmer, who does not have an economics background and came late in his career to Westminster in 2015, leaned heavily on Reeves for advice (in 2023, we deemed her the most powerful person in Labour). Here was a truly joint partnership. But for Reeves, sorrows have come not as single spies but as battalions. Economic growth – on which she staked her reputation – ...