The clash of Mary, Queen of Scots, and England’s Elizabeth I has given rise to dramatic interpretation since the 16th century. And now, in its competing visions, colliding of loyalties, twinges of envy and jockeying for sway, it serves well as a model for the competitive relationship between Rachel Reeves and Angela Rayner.

The Chancellor is battling competing pressures on public finances and is guaranteed to alienate one demographic or another by any moves she makes.

The forthright Deputy Prime Minister, meanwhile, has a markedly different conception of political economy and a vehement support base in the party ranks and among restless MPs who have tired of the “fiscal discipline” Reeves imposed to get Labour elected and restore “trust” in the party on economic management.

Most complicated battles over tax and policy are essentially about very human differences and interpretations of what is possible – and who should pay for it.

When I encountered Reeves recently, both on her visit to the US to smooth the path to a UK trade agreement and last week at the UK-EU warm-up summit in London – the vibe was pretty clear. She is restrained, highly disciplined, a tad anxious about unscripted encounters and with a support team engineered to repeat that there is no thinkable alternative to a restricted spending diet and some swingeing welfare cuts alongside cunning raids on middle-class savers........

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