With 59 instances of the word “I”, 14 “my”s and eight “me”s, Rachel Reeves delivered the most egocentric speech yet from our Government of Service. True, there were 60 “we”s and 66 “our”s, but they had the ring less of collective equality than of of royal plurals. Over 200 personal pronouns in a 45-minute speech – grammar is such a giveaway.

Reeves has been, as it were, reborn by office. She displays such confidence it amounts to a psychiatric condition but it is one that successful politicians have and probably must have. “My ambition knows no limits!” She said it out loud.

Keir certainly noticed it. He gave a very studied reaction to his Chancellor’s wide-ranging speech as it trespassed over much of his prime ministerial territory. Miliband’s gloomily reluctant applause shows he suspects that her quashing of his £28 billion was just a first step. And others in the cabinet registered her growth potential. Colleagues don’t like growth potential among their own. Yvette looked more vinegary than usual, Angela Rayner smiling non-smile was a work of art.

The PM got a hug but he must be thinking, and indeed, the Chancellor must be turning over in her mind, “Free-gear, Two-tier, One-year Keir.”

She was going for, what enthusiasts would describe as magnificence, and she didn’t entirely miss.

Bellicose one minute, feather-footed the next, then thumping tubs with both hands. “I won’t turn a blind eye to rip-off artists and fraudsters. I won’t turn a blind eye to those who used a national emergency to line their own pockets” she bellowed over building applause. “I won’t let them get away with it! We want that money back!” Standing ovation.

There is something of Mrs Thatcher about Rachel Reeves. Without wanting to compare her to Mrs T, it is possible to remember how derided the former PM was when she arrived. That voice. That manner. Her prodigious unpopularity. Her origins in the most derided class in Britain. All these apply to Rachel Reeves (her parents were teachers). But the derision was misplaced, as we all subsequently found out.

There is one other similarity to Mrs Thatcher.

Restricting the Winter Fuel Allowance will not save £1.5 billion, but will cost the Treasury when some millions pensioners get tipped into extra benefits. The VAT raid on school fees will cost the Treasury by pushing so many private pupils onto the public purse. The tax extensions on the oil and gas industry will deter inward investment (the pre-Budget investment conference is half empty). Net zero will send the UK’s heavy industry overseas, wipe out the British car industry, multiply the cost of electricity, shut down any energy-heavy business and produce rolling blackouts.

So, while Reeves says she understands the importance of stability and confidence to economic growth and that without growth there is no prosperity – this Labour Government is on course to do to the entire working class what Mrs Thatcher did to the miners.

Is she tough enough to do it? Hell yes, in the old Labour phrase, she’s tuss enough. Although, on her current trajectory, she’s looks more Truss enough.

Nonetheless, the energy, the conviction, the passion that Reeves brought to her project was convincing. It was authentic. And that’s because the project is herself.

Being optimistic about it, if the fortunes of the country are aligned with her ambitions, there is a hope that the lights will stay on. That will require a culling of certain colleagues.

After watching her this afternoon, I’d say she has no principled aversion to slaughter, when it is in her nation’s interest.