The line is that Rachel Reeves had to accept Sabrina Carpenter tickets, reportedly worth £600, for security reasons. Sure, she could have bought her own tickets, but how safe would she be in a mosh pit, with her approval ratings at 58% against, 17% in favour? I would argue still pretty safe. I personally disapprove quite strongly of Reeves’s performance in the exchequer: her dispiriting, intellectually shonky defeatism (for decisions, apparently, that can’t be helped) and empty boosterism (for the growth she thinks she can conjure). Yet I wouldn’t dream of ruining an evening of bouncy pop by accosting her, which I’m sure goes for most Carpenter fans. I wouldn’t even give her a piece of my mind at some musically appropriate event, like a Billy Bragg concert.
Heidi Alexander started a half-hearted attempt to defend Reeves in an interview with Times Radio, which turned into an absolute knee-capping halfway through. “I actually sadly haven’t been to see any concerts at all over the last nine months,” said the transport secretary, “partly because I’ve been very, very busy.”
