Poor Rachel Reeves. The economy is weak. Government borrowing has just come in higher than expected. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has downgraded its forecasts for UK growth. And to cap it all, she is trying to get the arch-protectionist Donald Trump to lower tariffs on British exports as part of a UK-US trade deal. Being chancellor of the exchequer is a tough gig, but nobody told her it would be this tough.

Reeves is in Washington this week for the half-yearly meetings of the IMF and the World Bank and there is no shortage of problems that the two venerable institutions could be getting their teeth into. There is a need for speedier and deeper debt relief to allow poor countries to spend more on tackling climate change. There is a need to redouble international efforts to hit the 2030 development goals set by the United Nations. There is a need to........

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