Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, has to put the brakes on government borrowing - Andy Rain/Shutterstock Sir Keir Starmer’s defence against a leadership bid by Wes Streeting does not come down to personality. In fact, some would argue that neither political skill nor electoral support is keeping him in Downing Street. However, according to his allies, backbench Labour MPs must resist ousting the Prime Minister to avoid spooking financial markets, which could inflate debt costs and trigger an economic disas ...

Rachel Reeves promised in last year’s Budget that she was ‘not coming back’ for more - Chris J Ratcliffe/Bloomberg Rachel Reeves is poised to repeat her record £40bn tax-raising Budget despite promising it was a one-off, economists have predicted. Barclays on Wednesday forecasted that the Chancellor will look for £41.7bn in tax rises and spending cuts next month, roughly on a par with last year’s record £41.5bn raid. Labour’s struggle to cut spending means tax rises are expected to account for the majori ...