Why Did Reeves Invoke The Thatcher Era In Her Speech?

According to the shadow chancellor, Britain faces a 1979 moment, a decisive shift in economic policy reminiscent of the way in which Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government broke with the post-war consensus on full employment and a mixed economy – but in a rather different direction, seeing as Rachel Reeves wants to put economic growth at the centre of “a decade of national renewal”.

- SEAN O'GRADY

Delivering the prestigious Mais lecture, more often given by a serving chancellor or governor of the Bank of England, Reeves has been granted a considerable honour – and has given us some insights into her ambitions, should Labour come to power...

What is the Mais lecture?

It’s one of the more important events in the economic calendar, and provides a platform for prominent people in finance and policymaking to set out their ideas at length, enhanced on occasion by some theoretical background and intellectual heft. It’s organised by the Centre for Banking Research, and is named after a former lord mayor of the city of London, industrialist and Labour peer, the late Alan Mais.

Beginning in 1978, it has previously featured distinguished, or at least important, figures such as Mark Carney, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, Mervyn King, George Osborne and Rishi Sunak. Last year it was the turn of Odile Renaud-Basso, the president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, to tell us all about “How to green the global economy”.

What’s the Big Idea?

Reeves is famously so smart that she can easily hold more than one big idea in her head simultaneously. This is just as well, because she has many big ideas, though, to be fair, some of them – such as the green prosperity plan – are prone to being forgotten about.