Reeves’ speech was intended to steady nerves but instead will ignite the internal struggle that defines Labour’s next phase in power, says Helen Thomas

With just over three weeks to go until the Budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has decided she can’t wait any longer. The pitch has to be rolled, the ground prepared, and the narrative set. In a calculated attempt to seize the initiative, she delivered a surprisingly unsurprising speech with a rapid-fire tour of her greatest hits. She’s “fixed the foundations”, the fiscal rules are ‘iron-clad’ and she remains committed to “protecting the NHS”. In putting her head above the parapet, she has invited fire – some of it likely to come from her own side.

Her speech marked a clear shift to fiscal realism. Reeves warned both the public and her MPs that there is no escaping the hard choices ahead. She received the final pre-measures calculation from the OBR last Friday 31st October and it was evidently a Halloween frightfest. She couldn’t wait any longer to set the scene. Manifesto pledges will be torn up and taxes will rise.

“We will bear down on waiting lists, on the cost of living, and on the national debt,” she said, “and when that requires hard choices, we will act – guided by the interests of working people. We were elected on a commitment to put country before party; the national interest before political calculation… and, whatever challenges come my........

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