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The chancellor spent most of her first six months issuing dire warnings about the calamitous state of the public finances she inherited.
But now, in a dramatic change of tone, Rachel Reeves is celebrating the UK’s economic possibilities.
Inspired by Donald Trump’s economic boosterism, and despite the UK’s flatlining growth figures, she told Trevor Phillips she’s spent the past few days in Davos “shouting on the world stage about everything our great country has to offer”.
“My enthusiasm and excitement… has never burned brighter.”
But this optimistic message isn’t just part of a new international sales pitch, a riposte to critics who believe the chancellor damaged investor confidence in the UK with her gloomy previous prognosis.
Instead, it’s part of the government’s drive to reconnect with businesses bruised by her tax-raising budget – an attempt to demonstrate that economic growth genuinely is its number one priority – at the expense, perhaps, of all else.
Of course, the chancellor argues that growth is needed to deliver the level of public services voters expect from a Labour government – without rapid improvements to the public finances, departments are likely to face austerity-level cuts.
Now we’re finally getting more detail on the practical strategy to deliver the growth that has proved so elusive for successive governments in recent years – but many of the measures involved are highly controversial.
Read more: Reeves to seek billions from corporate pension surpluses
From reducing planning hurdles to demanding regulators strip out red tape, in some ways, the Labour government is now seeking to enact many of the policies promised by Liz Truss.
Asked about the comparison by Trevor Phillips this morning, Ms Reeves didn’t deny the similarity, arguing only that “we’re doing practical things to get that growth, not just talking about it”.
On Wednesday in a big speech on growth, we’ll hear more about these practical steps.
The biggest expected…
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