Shrewd, partisan, ruthless… Rachel Reeves has learned from the best

By warning that the government is conning the public into believing Britain has turned a corner, the shadow chancellor has demonstrated the same canniness of her predecessor Gordon Brown, says John Rentoul

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves, in a speech in the City of London, accused the Conservatives of ‘gaslighting’ the public over the state of the economy (Labour Party handout)

For the next few months at least, Rachel Reeves has one job – to make people doubt good economic news when they hear it.

And they will, because the British people are feeling the pinch, and are unwilling to give Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt the benefit of the doubt if there are signs of a slight easing in the cost of living crisis.

Reeves is a highly political shadow chancellor who has learned from Gordon Brown. His genius was to offer stability and reassurance while drawing dividing lines between New Labour and a Conservative Party that was extreme, incompetent and out of touch.