Chancellor Rachel Reeves tried her hand as a cheerleader today, declaring there’s light at the end of the tunnel. Though in that tunnel there’ll be budget cuts, a tough spring review, squabbles over freebies, and a showdown with trade unions over her winter fuel payments cut. Things will get worse before they get better…
WATCH LIVE: My conference speech at 12pm.#lab24https://t.co/hafXbEk1TB
— Rachel Reeves (@RachelReevesMP) September 23, 2024
Here are the key takeaways:
Angela Rayner has made history – though not in the way taxpayers might have hoped. She’s the first Deputy Prime Minister to land herself a personal, taxpayer-funded ‘vanity’ photographer, costing £68,000 a year. LBC’s Nick Ferrari wasted no time this morning, tearing into Rachel Reeves over the glaring hypocrisy. Rayner, who once raged against Boris Johnson’s “coterie of vanity photographers,” is now indulging in the very same perk. Reeves floundered as she tried to justify the splurge while ordinary Brits are told to tighten their belts. Apparently, “difficult decisions” on public spending don’t apply when it comes to a luxury snapper for the Deputy PM…
Meanwhile, Downing Street’s new senior photographer will be on a modest salary of £48,000, while the Deputy Prime Minister’s personal photographer enjoys a salary that is 41% higher. As Guido reported last month, the Government Communication Service has quietly launched a massive hiring spree, adding 42 new roles across departments, costing an eye-watering £1,991,800 at the taxpayer’s expense. Quite the backdrop for Reeves’ black hole doom-and-gloom speech later today…
Labour’s been taking a beating in the court of public opinion, and the latest figures make grim reading for Sir Keir and his cronies. According to YouGov’s latest poll, nearly a quarter of Labour voters (23%) now admit they see their own party unfavourably. A whopping two-thirds (67%) think Labour couldn’t care less about older voters. No surprise there…
It’s a sharp shift since July’s General Election. Back then, 47% had a favourable view of Labour, with 46% against. Fast forward a few months, and the tables have turned: only 34% still think positively about the party, while a damning 57% now have a negative opinion. Meanwhile, Starmer’s approval rating is now down by 45 points since first becoming Prime Minister at -26% – lower than Nigel Farage‘s net approval rating. Labour’s shine is fading fast…
Good start…
Ongoing scandal is blighting the start of Labour’s conference in Liverpool, and the historical examples of embattled Labour ministers crowing about the Tories are coming thick and fast. The scandal is also running one of Labour’s major policy ideas into the rocks…
New York tourist Angela Rayner’s main campaign in the run up to the General Election was that a new Labour administration would overhaul the standards system. She said in a speech to the Institute for Government in November 2021:
“Under the next Labour government the rules will be strengthened. Enforcement will be toughened up, independent of political control. Labour’s new Independent Ethics & Integrity Commission will oversee and enforce standards in Government, ending the current situation in which the Prime Minister is the judge and jury on every case of ministerial misconduct. We will create a new, genuinely independent Ethics and Integrity Commission.”
Labour has made little progress on the Commission since it was elected. In an update to the Commons in July, Pat McFadden said:
“It is important to restore confidence in Government and public life, and to ensure the best possible standards. This was an important manifesto commitment. We will establish a new independent ethics and integrity commission, with its own independent chair, to ensure the highest possible standards. Work has begun on that, and I will keep the House up to date as it develops.”
Civil service insiders are now wondering how Labour can dismantle the current standards system and replace it with a new Commission, given the current heat. A number of sources looking at the proposals tell Guido that it will be near impossible to take forward given the current situation. Looks like Rayner will not get her political court after all…
Chancellor Rachel Reeves was rolled out this morning to defend Labour’s donations scandal ahead of her big conference speech. Speaking to LBC and the Today Programme, she sheepishly conceded that she understands why it might seem “a little bit odd that politicians get support for things like buying clothes.” To say the least…
Reeves then boldly claimed she “doesn’t think” these donations put her “into conflict in any way.” Interesting take, considering Ian Corfield, one of Reeves’ donors, was handed a cushy job in the civil service earlier this year, until the “cash for jobs” row forced an embarrassing U-turn. Worth remembering that back in 2021, Reeves pledged to “clean up” politics after firing shots at “crony” contracts going to Conservative friends and donors. So much for “Change Begins”…
Speaking at his speech on how to achieve “progressive capitalism” Wes Streeting fired a dig and Andy Burnham:
“Bond markets are not bond villains and fiscal rules matter.”