Rachel Reeves is wrestling with a dilemma many of her predecessors have tried and failed to resolve. It defeated James Callaghan during his tenure as chancellor in the 1960s, and Denis Healey in the 1970s. Alistair Darling was another victim when, in 2010, he tried to juggle the need to show Labour could handle money (without spilling it down the proverbial plughole) with persuading his own troops that a more austere state could marry a generous welfare safety net with the requirement for long-term public investment.
Callaghan’s experience is probably the closest to what Reeves faces. Looking back, it’s possible to see how his mistakes could easily become Reeves’s.
