Meet the new chancellor. Same as the old chancellor. Although, on reflection, that might be a little hard on Rachel Reeves. At least Rachel had given the job some thought before she got it. She had had some experience working at the Bank of England and, whether you liked it or not, she had some kind of plan. John Healey? Not so much. No one can remember him ever having given the economy much thought until Andy Burnham offered the job. He was more the strong and silent type.
As defence secretary, Healey had looked like a man of principle. A defender of the armed forces, a guardian of the realm. He had even resigned over Keir Starmer and Reeves’s refusal to guarantee increasing the defence budget to 3% of GDP by 2030.
