Reeves accused of apparent plagiarism in her new book on female economists

The shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has been accused of apparent plagiarism in her new book about female economists.

- Matthew Weaver

An examination by the Financial Times of the book, The Women Who Made Modern Economics , found more than 20 examples of passages from other sources that appeared to have been lifted wholesale or reworked with minor changes without acknowledgment. The examples cited by the paper include an obituary from the Guardian, several Wikipedia entries and a passage from a fellow Labour frontbencher.

The book’s publisher , Basic Books , admitted sentences in the book had not been not properly referenced. Reeves’s offi ce has denied plagiarism but acknowledged errors were made and said they would be corrected.

A spokesperson told the FT : “We strongly refute the accusation that has been put to us by this newspaper. These were inadvertent mistakes and will be rectifi ed in future reprints.”

Basic Books said the book includes a bibliography citing more than 200 sources. It told the FT: “Where facts are taken from multiple sources, no author would be expected to reference each and every one.”