𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Rachel Reeves has hammered taxpayers, smashed businesses, crushed growth and sent borrowing through the roof. Yet she does have one thing in her favour. Any other Labour Party politician would be even worse. All Labour MPs want to do is spend money and shake down taxpayers to foot the bill. Reeves has been more than happy to oblige, hitting us with around £70billion of tax rises while still failing to balance the books. If she survives long enough to deliver the next Budget, she may well come back for more. That’s certainly the way to bet.

Yet when asked at an event with bond investors on Tuesday whether she could avoid putting up taxes this year, she replied: “I very much hope so.” I wouldn’t get too excited about that. I remember her making similar soothing noises before last year’s Budget, before being slapped down by Keir Starmer. Still, merely saying she hopes to avoid tax rises puts her miles apart from much of the Labour Party, whose answer to every problem is more tax.

It certainly sets her apart from Andy Burnham, who launched his leadership bid by pledging more tax and spending. He’s rowed back a little, but only because he has a by-election to win. If he makes it to Number 10, we’d better watch out. Reeves had better watch out too, because everybody assumes Burnham would quickly replace her as chancellor. Then he’d probably install a complete zealot in her place, namely energy secretary Ed Miliband. That would be a nightmare for taxpayers. Even Reeves knows it

For all her faults, Reeves has set herself three fiscal rules designed to keep the nation’s finances under some kind of control. When questioned recently, Burnham couldn’t even explain what they were. That tells us everything we need to know about his attitude to borrowing. Yesterday, Reeves made a veiled dig at Burnham. Defending her tax rises, she said they were necessary because of Tory profligacy. She also said the only way to stop Britain being “in hock” to the bond markets was to borrow less.

That was a clear swipe at Burnham, who previously claimed Britain needed to stop being “in hock” to bond investors. The comment was widely ridiculed because there is only one way to do that: stop borrowing so much money from them in the first place. And Burnham has no plan to do that. Quite the reverse. Reeves knows that. And she hit him with a sucker punch.

At least Reeves understands that Britain depends on bond markets to fund government spending. And well she might, because she’s borrowing £111billion this year just to pay the interest bill on our near-£3trillion debt pile. Reeves is keen to cling onto her job, even under Burnham, and the bond market is her best defence. Right now, she’s the only thing standing between us and a gilts crisis and currency meltdown.

Yesterday she took a swing at Andy Burnham, and the punch landed. Right on the nose. Burnham can’t be trusted. Ed Miliband even less so. It’s a mark of how far Labour has fallen is that Reeves is all that stands between us and Britain and going bust. She’d better keep swinging.