𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

The Labour chancellor has already pushed Britain’s finances towards the abyss. By driving taxes to record highs, she’s crushed what little hope we had of generating the growth needed to stop the country sinking deeper into debt. Yet even after hammering businesses and workers alike, she still can’t get anywhere near balancing the books. As debt interest climbs and the Iran conflict drags on, Capital Economics reckons total borrowing could hit £147billion in this financial year.

Every penny will be piled onto our terrifying national debt of almost £3trillion. Britain is living way beyond its means and the reckoning is coming fast. Things could get even worse if Andy Burnham replaces Keir Starmer. There’s talk that he’ll replace Reeves with Ed Miliband, or possibly even pink-haired mobile phone fumbler Louise Haigh. I wouldn’t trust either of them to manage a savings account, let alone Britain’s finances.

But Reeves now seems determined to outbid them for economic insanity. With her latest wheeze, she’s finally lost the plot. Incredibly, she wants to revive one of the worst ideas of the entire Tony Blair and Gordon Brown New Labour era: the dreaded Private Finance Initiative.

PFI was sold as a clever way to rebuild Britain without piling more debt onto the nation’s books. In reality, it was an accounting trick. Private firms funded hospitals, schools and infrastructure up front, then taxpayers paid the money back over decades with interest on top.

It allowed Brown to spend huge sums while pretending he wasn’t borrowing more, and damn the expense. Now those bills are overwhelming us. PFI funded £59billion of assets. In total they’ll cost taxpayers at least £230billion, and maybe as much as £300billion. PFI contracts are ridiculously long, with some running into the 2040s. The maintenance bills keep rolling in, with reports of contractors charging schools and hospitals £500 to change a lightbulb.

Now Reeves is considering doing the same thing all over again, but under the fancy rebrand of Public-Private Partnerships, according to The Daily Telegraph. Perhaps she thinks we won’t notice. The Treasury is asking investors how private money could fund Labour’s infrastructure dreams, including new towns and major building projects. They must be rubbing their hands at the small fortune heading their way.

The Treasury says lessons have been learned. Previous mistakes won’t be repeated. But if there’s one thing we know about this government, is that it doesn’t just repeat old mistakes, it makes plenty of new ones too.

This is another financial sleight of hand from a chancellor who has lost control of the nation’s finances. Since Reeves can’t openly borrow more without alarming the markets, she’s trying to shove liabilities off the books. But hidden debt is still debt.

At some point Britain has to face reality. Politicians have to stop pretending there’s endless money for every pet project and vanity scheme. Labour will never do it. The party’s left would explode at any attempt to curb spending. Things will only get worse while it’s in power.

Reeves is borrowing more today and dumping the bill onto the British taxpayer. And eventually, their children and granchildren too. We’ll all be footing the bill for Reeves decades after she’s gone. It’ll be something to remember her by.