Why Reeves would do best to bank on Bailey

Rachel Reeves is fighting on too many fronts. She remains wedded to her “iron clad” fiscal rules when even the traditionally hawkish German government is relaxing its budgetary rules to make provision for extra defence spending.

- William Keegan

Moreover, the chancellor has moved into potentially dangerous territory by antagonising the Bank of England. She is in open conflict with governor Andrew Bailey over her extraordinary scheme to relax the financial regulation that was brought in after the 2007-2009 banking crisis to ringfence retail banking - a service for business and the general public - from the excesses of investment banking.

This is all supposed to be in the interests of the faster economic growth on which she has rashly staked her reputation.

But the UK’s financial sector is quite big enough already. It is there to serve the interests of the wider manufacturing, innovative and service economy, as well as us “consumers”; it is not supposed to be an object of growth in itself.