{"id":821234,"date":"2026-11-02T00:32:09","date_gmt":"2026-11-02T00:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/821234\/"},"modified":"2026-11-02T00:32:09","modified_gmt":"2026-11-02T00:32:09","slug":"how-rachel-reeves-has-mapped-out-the-economic-agenda-for-andy-burnhams-government-rachel-reeves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/821234\/","title":{"rendered":"How Rachel Reeves has mapped out the economic agenda for Andy Burnham\u2019s government | Rachel Reeves"},"content":{"rendered":"

Which senior politician has argued that \u201cBrexit did deep damage\u201d and that the government seeks \u201cnot to turn back the clock but to look toward a new and stable, future relationship?\u201d<\/p>\n

It was not Andy Burnham, who has been the torchbearer for thinking the unthinkable on Brexit since he became prime minister. Instead, these are the words of the former chancellor Rachel Reeves, in a lecture<\/a> six months ago.<\/p>\n

Reeves has taken a more thoughtful approach on how to come to terms with life outside government than some of her fellow former ministers.<\/p>\n

A speech at Harvard on Monday will be her first public intervention on her own record and on Britain\u2019s future, wisely left until after John Healey\u2019s first budget<\/a>.<\/p>\n

She will say no one in government could \u201cbe in any doubt\u201d about her view on the damage of Brexit \u2013 and her belief that one day the UK should return to the EU fold. \u201cEconomic interests, common values and basic geographical reality all point towards Europe,\u201d Reeves will say.<\/p>\n

The speech, which will examine how governments can meet the public\u2019s appetite for radicalism while maintaining credibility with financial markets, will say that pursuing a closer relationship with the EU, even rejoining, may be credible as well as radical.<\/p>\n

\u201cEconomically, it is the credible choice. Britain\u2019s values, and a serious assessment of the geopolitical scene today, tell us it is the radical choice too,\u201d she will say, giving Burnham \u201ccredit for his willingness to face reality head on\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Treasury, where the blueprints for the Remain campaign\u2019s \u201cProject Fear\u201d were drawn up, has always been the heart of pro-European sentiment in government and Reeves its biggest champion under Keir Starmer<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Her sentiment seems more aligned though with that of Burnham, who cast her out of government, than with Healey, her successor as chancellor. He has joked about his own age when asked if the UK would rejoin the EU \u201cin his lifetime\u201d, saying it was his job to \u201ctry and make the most of Britain\u2019s position now\u201d.<\/p>\n

Within Westminster, there are more than whispers from some MPs that they have judged Reeves\u2019s legacy and influence too harshly. Healey\u2019s first outing at the International Monetary Fund in Bangkok saw its economists lavish praise on his predecessor, saying the UK\u2019s deficit reduction plan \u201cstands out\u201d among G7 peers.<\/p>\n

It is particularly striking how the themes of Reeves\u2019s lecture have become the agenda for Burnham\u2019s government. In it, she argued: \u201cToday, what most distinguishes Britain from our closest peers is the relative underperformance of our major cities outside London, compared to their European counterparts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reeves, who is the MP for Leeds West and Pudsey, said the north of England had \u201cwaited for far too long, for a government that matches warm words with concerted ambition\u201d.<\/p>\n

Her call to \u201cliberate our regions from stifling Whitehall orthodoxies\u201d sounds strikingly Burnhamesque. The main policy announced in the speech? A plan to begin giving regional leaders a share of national taxes \u201cwhich have, for too long, been allocated by central government\u201d.<\/p>\n

That work now forms the centrepiece of Healey\u2019s budget. If this government has its own theory of growth \u2013 Brexit and devolution \u2013 it is awkward at best that it removed the key backer of both under Starmer.<\/p>\n

But Reeves\u2019s main theory of growth was investment, in pursuit of which she raised employers\u2019 national insurance.<\/p>\n

That is the other reason for Burnham\u2019s government to be grateful to Reeves \u2013 and for which she has received no credit. Those tax raises \u2013 despite being unpopular \u2013 gave a sense of a government willing to make hard choices while taking the risk to borrow for public investment. The fiscal rules were changed to allow for a multi-year commitment to an eventual \u00a3100bn in new capital spending.<\/p>\n

The cash is now beginning to flow into NHS infrastructure, roads, housing, rail upgrades and energy and industrial investments. Reeves will lay out her theory in her Harvard speech this week that the shift to an investment-led growth model \u201crequired sacrifices\u201d that a Starmer-led government failed to get the public to back.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe challenge is to make the politics and economics, those dual tests of credibility and radicalism, line up,\u201d Reeves will say.<\/p>\n

She will not say \u2013 although others have \u2013 that much of the problem with Starmer\u2019s government was the man himself, rather than the agenda.<\/p>\n

Burnham, if he avoids an early election, may start to see some of that investment bear fruit in public and market confidence, both in upgraded public services and in Britain\u2019s appeal as a location for private investment.<\/p>\n

There is much that could derail all this \u2013 not least further international turmoil \u2013 but when Burnham\u2019s government counts its success on public services, Europe, devolution and growth, Reeves will be able to claim some credit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Which senior politician has argued that \u201cBrexit did deep damage\u201d and that the government seeks \u201cnot to turn…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":821235,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-821234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=821234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821234\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/821235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=821234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=821234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=821234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}