Who told Rachel from accounts the job of Chancellor would be easy...?

Economic woes are piling pressure on Reeves

- MARTYN BROWN

IT was an image that not only illustrated the intense pressure on Rachel Reeves but the bleak state of the economy. The besieged Chancellor, sitting ashen-faced with heavy bags under her eyes, was being barracked by opposition MPs during the first Prime Minister's Questions of 2025. Outside the Commons bear pit, markets were in meltdown, the pound was plummeting and borrowing costs were soaring. Throw into the mix the flatlining economy and inflation stubbornly higher than hoped for and it's easy to understand why Ms Reeves wasn't looking refreshed so soon after the Christmas break.

So where has it all gone wrong for Rachel from accounts 80 days on from the Budget and six months after Labour swept to power promising economic growth would be its priority?

Within days of entering No 11 Ms Reeves said she had "looked under the bonnet" and discovered a £22billion black hole in the nation's finances, blaming the Tory party for 14 years of economic mismanagement.

Shortly afterwards she announced that she would snatch the winter fuel payment from all but the poorest of pensioners.

This decision, which has provoked a public and political backlash, will save the Treasury £1.4billion this financial year. Not a great deal in the grand scheme of things.

The mistakes continued through the autumn. Midway through October, Ms Reeves and Sir Keir Starmer attempted to use the grandeur of the Guildhall building in London to inspire global business tycoons to bet big on Britain.