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| Blue Labour at the despatch box |
The spring statement had Chancellor Reeves facing Mel Stride, and they gave a performance reminiscent of Millwall versus Wimbledon in the 1990s. All pent-up anger and aggression with little finesse and no goals. Reeves was adamant that her plan for the economy was working. Strident said she had no plan. I switched off in despair. I had learnt nothing apart from the fact that 16% seemed a high bar for the Labour and Conservative parties. Their rampant tribalism, wound up by an ever bellicose Kemi Badenoch, is a major factor in their demise.
Mel Stride was a player in the economic decline foisted on the country during the Tory years, and his use of selected statistics to divert the blame to the Labour Government has all the authority of a toddler playing with an abacus. Reeves has no self-awareness that her tone and claims of righteousness are as much a turn-off as Trump's posts on Truth Social. Moreover, she continues to believe in controlling public finances, supporting big projects that will take decades to come to fruition and thinking she knows best. Her failure to trust localities and businesses to take responsibility for the parts of the economy they know best should prompt her early dismissal.
There are some talented economists on the Labour bencheswith radical ideas to streamline taxation and devolve budgets. They would be far more adept at challenging treasury rules and setting a path for the future economy of the UK. If Starmer has any bottle after the Gorton debacle, he would bring on his bench.
