Labour’s new cabinet divide

There were no civil servants present when ministers gathered for their weekly cabinet meeting on Tuesday. The reason? It was time to talk politics. On the eve of Labour’s first Budget for 14 years, Keir Starmer tried to rally his ministers around a common message: blame the Tories! He spoke of the so-called fiscal black hole bequeathed to Labour before he handed things over to his Chancellor to explain why difficult decisions were required on spending, tax and welfare.

Plenty of Labour MPs and aides question the wisdom of an election campaign which has boxed them in

For all the attempts to unite against a common enemy, just a glance around the cabinet table was a reminder of the unease about the decisions taken this week. Ministers such as Angela Rayner, Louise Haigh, Steve Reed and Shabana Mahmood have already expressed their objections to real-term departmental cuts.

Reeves sat opposite Starmer at the end of the table. Within her line of sight was Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the Treasury. Reeves and Jones are the guardians of fiscal responsibility – and are fast becoming the least popular members of the cabinet with colleagues. ‘Their standing is pretty low at the moment,’ says a government source after weeks of spending negotiations.

Reeves’s first Budget is seen as evidence of the Treasury’s dominance of the government’s agenda. Jones (who has referred to his three children as ‘cost units’) likes to say his buzzwords are ‘reform’ and ‘growth’, but these days his colleagues mainly associate him with the word ‘no’. Backing them is Reeves’s closest cabinet ally Pat McFadden, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, along with Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, who was one of the few winners from the Budget.

These divisions within government could define the next year, especially after the comprehensive spending review which is due in the spring.