'Rachel Reeves has run out of options'

The political and fiscal constraints upon Rachel Reeves have combined to leave the chancellor at a disadvantaged position, says Helen Thomas

Chancellor Rachel Reeves Visits A Coal Tip In Wales
(Image credit: Matthew Horwood/Getty Images)

Britain’s chancellor Rachel Reeves is facing at least as much risk from her parliamentary colleagues as she is from gilt markets. Upon delivering the Spring Statement in March, she introduced welfare reforms to ensure the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) would confirm she had met her fiscal rules.

But tightening the criteria for disability benefits was a step too far for many Labour MPs, who rebelled once the welfare reforms came to a vote. The government only managed to pass the bill by gutting its substantive fiscal savings, leaving Reeves with an extra £5 billion to find. She broke down in tears, gilt markets wobbled, and a huge fiscal black hole looms.

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Helen Thomas CFA has worked in financial markets for over 17 years. She founded her own macroeconomic consulting firm, BlondeMoney, in 2017 providing expert analysis on financial markets and politics.

Before that she was a Partner at a Global Macro hedge fund and Head of Currency Alpha for State Street Global Advisors. She started her career in Foreign Exchange at Merrill Lynch before going on to work for Societe Generale and SEB. She has also worked in politics, as an adviser to former Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne during the financial crisis.

She is a CFA Charterholder and holds a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University.

She is a Board Member of CFA UK where she is responsible for their sub-committee on the Value of the Investment Profession.

You can read more from Helen at Blonde Money