The real story of Starmer, Reeves and a painful Budget

Although Sir Keir Starmer appeared to lead from the front in his Downing Street rose garden speech setting out the government’s strategy, his fate is not in his own hands.

- ANDREW GRICE

It is largely in those of Rachel Reeves who, Starmer warned, will deliver a “painful” Budget on 30 October – likely to include tax rises and spending cuts.

Indeed, some Starmer allies worry privately he has given his chancellor too free a hand in deciding a Budget and government-wide spending review that will define Labour’s fiveyear term.

True, Starmer and Reeves have a good relationship, without the tension between the prime minister and chancellor that can destabilise governments. Although they wouldn’t admit it, the model – if there is one – is not Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, but David Cameron and George Osborne. The latter kept their differences behind closed doors, even when Osborne opposed Cameron’s ill-fated referendum on EU membership.

As one Labour insider told me: “The question is: can you have the creative tension of Blair and Brown without the destructive bad stuff.” (Perhaps Downing Street under Labour is a bit like Oasis). Starmer respects and trusts Reeves and doesn’t pretend he knows as much about economics as she does. But some advisers think he has conceded her too powerful a role in how his five missions for government will be implemented. After all, he is first lord of the Treasury.