Rachel Reeves’ choices today could spell recovery or disaster and during this century, the choice has never been starker
11 June 2025, 15:24
I want to start with a few simple, important, big-picture thoughts about this spending review.
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First, it isn’t just about the year ahead.
It sets Britain’s direction for the rest of this parliament.
Second, we are living on a cliff edge. If Rachel Reeves has got it right, with socking big public investment in new technologies, transport and public services of a kind we haven’t seen for decades, then Britain is heading back to proper growth.
You’d notice that. It has been tough. But you’d find the next few years brighter and better.
If she’s got it wrong because it turns out that Labour ministers don’t really understand business and - a point raised by Mel Stride the Tory shadow Chancellor – aren’t trusted by the bond markets, then we’re probably heading towards a national meltdown, a catastrophic downward spiral which will hammer the last flickers of hope out of all of us.
So, my third and final point, Rachel Reeves is also, whether she likes it or not, choosing Britain’s political fate.
She could be preventing, or she could be igniting, the next upheaval, a political revolution driven by despair and a thirst across the country for dramatic change.
If not Keir Starmer then, increasingly likely, Nigel Farage. If not Rachel Reeves, Richard Tice. If not Yvette Cooper, Lee Anderson.
My point is really a very simple one – it’s so easy to get submerged and bored by the avalanche of numbers and uncheckable claims pouring out of Westminster on a day like this. But it’s really worth trying to pay attention.
This matters. Rachel Reeves’s choices today are about recovery or disaster. And during this century, the choice has never seemed starker.
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