I'm John Batchel with my colleague Joseph Sternberg. He's in London for the Wall Street Journal editorial page.

He writes political economics. Coming home to London, no longer member of the EU, and now a shopping

list for labor that looks impossible, starting with the expectation that labor, because it commands the parliament, overwhelmingly,

can raise defense spending not just to 3%, but a 3.5% insist NATO.

At the same time, Mr. Starrmer is weighed down, and Rachel Reeves is Chancellor of the Exchequer,

weighed down by the fuel payment for winter households, the two-child benefit cap, and the disability benefit cuts,

which would make, if slashed in any fashion, the backbench for Mr. Starrmer into, I think, a riot.

I think that's what would happen in Parliament.

So, Joe, you've given me the short version here, taxes, taxes, taxes.

Does it work?

Nope.

In a word, I mean, the problem that Kier Starrmer, the prime minister and Chancellor Rachel

Reeves have right now, I think as far as I can tell the two of them get it.

I think that they understand that the UK economy is taxed out.

Tax revenues as a share of GDP are the highest they've been since the

immediate aftermath of World War II. This is clearly having a negative effect on economic

growth where the projections keep slipping. We're not out of the woods in terms of inflation

yet. So the economy is in pretty parless state at the moment.

I think they understand that they can't raise taxes, but they have all of these members of their party who are demanding more spending.

And I think that of the spending demands on them, defense has got to be the priority.

That's going to become a major security problem for the country and also a diplomatic

issue as their allies will expect it of them.

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