Rachel Reeves’s big-government rhetoric is a worrying sign for Britain
The country needs defence spending and nuclear power, but not more social housing
IT WAS never going to be a glorious task. On June 11th Rachel Reeves, Britain’s chancellor of the exchequer, apportioned the spending for which she had budgeted. The government is so cash-strapped that most of its departments suffered in order to help the rickety National Health Service. To gloss over this, Ms Reeves delivered a tub-thumping speech in Parliament about the virtues of big government.
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This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “Shoestring statism”
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From the June 14th 2025 edition
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