Shadow Paymaster General Richard Holden wrote to Rachel Reeves last night demanding answers on her career. Holden says Reeves “will be aware of various reporting over the weekend relating to your employment history,” and that the “allegations raised, including that you misrepresented your role at HBOS, and then edited your CV after this being discovered, are not trivial matters.” Downing Street is maintaining wilful blindness over the situation…
Holden says “standards in public life are upheld by rigorous accountability and transparency” and he is writing “seeking clarity.” To that end the Tories are firing six broad-sweep questions at Reeves…
He adds some politicking for good measure by claiming “this is equally important as many businesses and working people already feel as if Labour had not been honest with them.” The pressure is not letting up on the Chancellor…
Andy Haldane, Burnham’s recent adviser on the economy who has not taken up a No10 job, told Andrew Marr on LBC:
“The market now suspects that this is a traditional tax-and-spend socialist government with better TikTok videos…
imposing windfall taxes on oil & gas or on banks or upping capital gains tax would […] repeat the mistake that Rachel made […] The Achilles heel, the fiscal Achilles heel of this government thus far has been its unwillingness and/or inability to cut public spending.”