Rachel Reeves’s second budget needs a narrative of fairness to justify tax rises

Rachel Reeves’s winter fuel cut decision landed badly because there was no narrative aside from balancing the books. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian

Rachel Reeves’s difficult second budget on 26 November risks landing as badly as last year’s winter fuel cut, unless she can tell a compelling story about who should bear the cost of the “renewal” Labour has promised.

The chancellor’s conference speech last week, received with standing ovations by the party faithful, made a powerful case for investment against austerity, and for Labour – not Reform – as the real workers’ party.