{"id":223756,"date":"2025-06-29T10:31:10","date_gmt":"2025-06-29T10:31:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/223756\/"},"modified":"2025-06-29T10:31:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-29T10:31:10","slug":"rachel-reeves-meltdown-as-starmer-rips-plan-to-shreds-see-whats-next-personal-finance-finance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/223756\/","title":{"rendered":"Rachel Reeves meltdown as Starmer rips plan to shreds. See what’s next | Personal Finance | Finance"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Reeves swept into office just under a year ago, she was full of conviction, pledging that \u201ceconomic growth is the number one mission of this government\u201d. Her “Plan for Change” would help to fix the NHS, boost policing, hit climate goals and give working families a better future. \u201cWe will have succeeded in our mission when working people are better off,\u201d Reeves declared.<\/p>\n

That phrase that hasn\u2019t aged well. Instead of the \u201cprosperity, thriving high streets and vibrant British businesses\u201d she promised, we have yet more decline and decay. The economy shrank by 0.3% in April and the Bank of England now says growth will flatline all year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

One forecaster after another has downgraded the UK\u2019s prospects. Trump\u2019s tariffs haven\u2019t helped, but Reeves has done most of the damage.<\/p>\n

PM Keir Starmer<\/a> has been forced to follow her with a dustpan and brush, trying to sweep up the mess she’s left in her wake.<\/p>\n

He’s reversing one part of the plan after another. At this rate there will soon be nothing left. No plan, no Reeves.<\/p>\n

The list of U-turns is getting ever longer. First it was the winter fuel payment<\/a>, now disability benefit cuts.<\/p>\n

Two more flagship policies may go.<\/p>\n

First, Treasury officials are trying to water down the disastrous non-doms tax raid, which will reduce tax revenues rather than increase them.<\/p>\n

Second, around 40 rebel Labour MPs are pushing for by a partial retreat on the so-called \u201ctractor tax\u201d, the cruel inheritance tax (IHT) raid on small family farms. Let’s hope they succeed.<\/p>\n

If Reeves had an ounce of sense, she’d never have launched that in the first place. Or the equally dim-witted IHT raid on family firms, which as I explain here, will destroy brilliant British businesses like this one<\/a>. Starmer should rip that one up too, but there’s no sign yet.<\/p>\n

Each climbdown creates a fresh hole in the public finances.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just Reeves in full reverse mode. Starmer has U-turned over grooming gangs and is wobbling on the two-child benefit cap.<\/p>\n

Yet Reeves remains at the heart of the storm. She came in talking tough, projecting fiscal discipline and \u201ciron-clad\u201d decision making.<\/p>\n

Now her plans are full of holes.<\/p>\n

In her first Budget, Reeves vowed to \u201cfix the foundations of our economy, and repair the public finances\u201d.<\/p>\n

Another \u00a340billion hole has opened up and spending cuts are off the table. The Labour Party simply won\u2019t wear it.<\/p>\n

So taxes must rise again this autumn, even though she previously promised they won’t.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s already shifted, saying only that they\u2019ll be \u201cless painful\u201d than before. But even that may not hold.<\/p>\n

All that’s left now are her supposedly “non-negotiable” fiscal rules, which “will always be met\u201d. They may have to go too, and take the final shreds of her credibility with them.<\/p>\n

The foundations she promised to fix are crumbling. Soon, Reeves will be left as chancellor in name only, reciting robotic pledges to build a stronger Britain while presiding over its slow-motion decline.<\/p>\n

And then she\u2019ll be gone. Her grand plans will turn to dust. Remembered only for the damage they did along the way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Reeves swept into office just under a year ago, she was full of conviction, pledging that \u201ceconomic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":223757,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[51,61759,88327,807,528,88326,619,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-223756","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-economic-policies","10":"tag-fiscal-chaos","11":"tag-keir-starmer","12":"tag-labour-party","13":"tag-labour-revolt","14":"tag-rachel-reeves","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114766196494071786","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223756"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223756\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/223757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}