Why Rachel Reeves chose to disappoint voters with her budget

By Patrick Diamond, Professor of Public Policy, Queen Mary University of London

In walking the political tightrope of her own budget this week, Rachel Reeves had to broadly satisfy three critical audiences. There were her own MPs in the parliamentary Labour party, business and financial markets and, of course, voters who ultimately determine whether the Labour government is re-elected three or four years from now.

Pleasing all three simultaneously is hardly straightforward given the UK’s precarious fiscal predicament. Reeves could have attempted to appease the markets and voters with fiscal discipline that avoided significant tax rises. But if she antagonised…

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