Chancellor Rachel Reeves admits economy 'is not working well enough' as she reveals Budget date
In a video posted on social media on Wednesday, Ms Reeves said: “Britain’s economy isn’t broken. But I know it’s not working well enough for working people.
“Bills are high. Getting ahead feels tougher. You put more in, get less out. That has to change.
“We’ve got huge potential - world-leading brands, dynamic industries, brilliant universities, and a skilled workforce. We’re a global hub for trade.
“Fixing the foundations has been my mission this past year... But I’m not satisfied. There’s more to do.”
I bet she isn't satisfied, but it isn’t easy to say anything new about this situation, because in a sense her incompetence has fallen below an invisible floor. Our Chancellor's inability to perform the role is clearly beyond even modest correction.
We have a political party and a leadership which effectively blagged its way to power on the back of a very unpopular government with the aid of inadequately alert voters. We may refer to the party manifesto, vested interests, an inflexible public sector and so on, but the problem to be analysed here is too simple for that – Rachel Reeves shouldn’t be there.
As many know but too many don't, political oversight of government requires a pragmatic acceptance of what works and what doesn't. A pragmatic outlook should take precedence over ideology and political posturing, but it doesn't and therein lies the overall simplicity of the problem.
An analogy might be hospital bed-blockers. We have office-blockers in a number of key ministerial positions, Prime Minister, Chancellor, Foreign Secretary, Education Secretary and so on. They can't perform the role competently and there is a shortage of those who can.
Rachel Reeves isn't alone in her disappointment.
7 comments:
I wonder how much control the Chancellor has. Has she been 'captured' by the Treasury or Civil Service? Has she been given a political brief that limits her freedom of action? I
It could be unsatisfying to work in a job where she is prevented from succeeding.
Or perhaps she is just inadequate?
Maybe all of those, DiscoveredJoys.
One must not forget that somewhere in Whitehall, there is a flunky whose sole 'job' is to advise politicians on how to enact the 'Rictus Grin', which pervades every Labour politician every time a camera is pointed at them!
I believe it's a requirement for every 'minister' to undergo training with the individual, whose shadowy department only exists of seventeen advisors, forty-three assistants, a government chauffeur, a grace and favour flat in Hove, and a pension equivalent to eight PLCs, struggling to survive.
Rachel from Stapler supplies has a regular appointment with this department.
DJ - she probably been 'captured' by the Treasury because she can't do it herself and that may be an insight into how useless the Treasury is.
James - yes, a creature of the Blob.
Scrobs - it's one of the few things she does well, although the tears were a lapse.
She's smiling at the plight of the Rayner scum, I expect.
Every man and his dog know that the only way out of debt is to cut spending, shame the experts don't apply the same common sense. Meanwhile every increase in taxes, regulatory costs, and especially the transactional taxes like VAT and stamp duties simply, add more grit in the machinery of local economies making trades, moving house and productive business poorer.
dearieme - yes, it feels like a sink Rayner opportunity is being grabbed with both hands.
Woodsy - that's it, cut spending and regulatory costs. As you say, every man and his dog knows it. They probably do too, but it's not what they are there for.
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