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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| Reeves and Starmer can't escape impact of sluggish economy | Reeves and Starmer can't escape impact of sluggish economy |
| (about 11 hours later) | |
| We are reminded rather starkly today of the backdrop – the all too hard to shift backdrop – that shapes our national life and conversation and the trade-offs the government confronts. | We are reminded rather starkly today of the backdrop – the all too hard to shift backdrop – that shapes our national life and conversation and the trade-offs the government confronts. |
| The latest GDP figures underline the baked in sluggishness, the flatlining, even the shrivelling of the economy. | The latest GDP figures underline the baked in sluggishness, the flatlining, even the shrivelling of the economy. |
| All this after the prime minister and the chancellor sought to badge their Spending Review on Wednesday as the beginning of a new chapter. | All this after the prime minister and the chancellor sought to badge their Spending Review on Wednesday as the beginning of a new chapter. |
| Rachel Reeves hopes her prescription can be part of the cure for our collective economic woes, writing in The Daily Telegraph that "investment" is "with a singular purpose in mind – to make you and your family better off." | Rachel Reeves hopes her prescription can be part of the cure for our collective economic woes, writing in The Daily Telegraph that "investment" is "with a singular purpose in mind – to make you and your family better off." |
| But that feels, just as it did under the previous government, like an aspiration for another day, some distance away, rather than an imminent prospect. | But that feels, just as it did under the previous government, like an aspiration for another day, some distance away, rather than an imminent prospect. |
| The economic sluggishness has another impact too. There is a widespread recognition, including in the Treasury, that the limits are being reached on what the government can sustainably borrow. | The economic sluggishness has another impact too. There is a widespread recognition, including in the Treasury, that the limits are being reached on what the government can sustainably borrow. |
| If there is an acceptance there can't be any more borrowing and the economy remains in the slow lane, that points to more tax rises in the Budget in the autumn. | If there is an acceptance there can't be any more borrowing and the economy remains in the slow lane, that points to more tax rises in the Budget in the autumn. |
| Meanwhile, the chancellor has asked her MPs to go out and sell the government's plan - just as some of them grumble that both she and the prime minister are no good at doing that themselves. | Meanwhile, the chancellor has asked her MPs to go out and sell the government's plan - just as some of them grumble that both she and the prime minister are no good at doing that themselves. |
| Reeves refuses to rule out tax rises after economy shrinks | Reeves refuses to rule out tax rises after economy shrinks |
| Seven ways the Spending Review affects you | Seven ways the Spending Review affects you |
| Winners and losers: Who got what in the review? | Winners and losers: Who got what in the review? |
| What has the chancellor has announced? The key points | What has the chancellor has announced? The key points |
| Watch: Where the money is being spent | Watch: Where the money is being spent |
| There is a frustration from some at the apparent inability of Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves to talk in pictures, to punchily, directly and repeatedly articulate in a way that is absorbed what the government is about and who it is for. | There is a frustration from some at the apparent inability of Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves to talk in pictures, to punchily, directly and repeatedly articulate in a way that is absorbed what the government is about and who it is for. |
| Is the defining mission clear enough? Is this a government with a demeanour and posture that matches its majority? | Is the defining mission clear enough? Is this a government with a demeanour and posture that matches its majority? |
| No, is the private judgement of some on its own side, let alone their critics, and some in business. | No, is the private judgement of some on its own side, let alone their critics, and some in business. |
| We are witnessing, says Paul Johnson of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, "a decade of a growing state". | |
| "Over the parliament as a whole total departmental spending is set to grow at 2.3% a year above economy-wide inflation. It is worth recalling that it grew at 3.6% a year over the 2019-24 parliament," Johnson adds – when the Conservatives were in charge. | |
| And one final observation – just because of its scale. A growing part of that growing state is the health service. | |
| By 2028-29 the day to day spending on the NHS for the year will be nearly a quarter of a trillion pounds. | |
| £226bn is around the same as the total economic output of the Portuguese economy. | £226bn is around the same as the total economic output of the Portuguese economy. |
| And still the question is asked by some about whether that is enough, as others ponder for how long numbers this big and rising can possibly be sustainable. | And still the question is asked by some about whether that is enough, as others ponder for how long numbers this big and rising can possibly be sustainable. |
| Sign up for our Politics Essential newsletter to keep up with the inner workings of Westminster and beyond. | Sign up for our Politics Essential newsletter to keep up with the inner workings of Westminster and beyond. |