Treasury: no plans for Reeves’ robes

It’s tough times at the Treasury for poor Rachel Reeves. With three weeks to go until Labour’s first Budget, every mandarin on Horse Guards Road has been rummaging down the back of the proverbial sofa, looking for any extra cash to spend. The fiscal rules look set for a rejig; taxes are likely to be raised and there’s talk even of spending cuts – though whether the Chancellor can get that past her backbenchers remains another matter.

And with Reeves demanding ‘efficiency savings’ across Whitehall, it seems that retrenchment has even extended to her own office. For centuries, successive ministers at the Treasury were given a robe of office in their capacity as Master of the Mint. Some wore it to coronations while others donned it when attending the Trial of the Pyx – the annual ceremony to ensure that newly minted coins from the Royal Mint to their required dimensional and fineness specifications.