Reeves's Spending Review ‘gamble’: continuity or change for Labour?

Political Currency

Persephonica

Business, Economy, George Osborne, Westminster, Politics, News, Money, Ed Balls

4 • 855 Ratings

🗓️ 12 June 2025

⏱️ 61 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Rachel Reeves has finally delivered her much-anticipated Spending Review, but has it done anything to shift Labour’s story? George Osborne calls it “continuity Sunak,” arguing that the big spending pledges are less a break from the past and more a continuation of Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak’s economic path. Ed Balls says Reeves is taking ‘a real gamble’ without ‘any insurance’, boxing herself in with big promises, uncertain growth, and no room to manoeuvre.

With defence and the NHS coming out on top, and departments like the Foreign Office facing deep cuts, what does this Review tell us about Labour’s true priorities? And can the party really keep these pledges without raising taxes or breaking its own fiscal rules?

Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, Donald Trump is making headlines once again, this time for turning on his old ally Elon Musk and deploying troops into LA over immigration protests. Ed and George assess what it all means for the UK’s relationship with Trump, the future of US-UK diplomacy, and Starmer’s carefully built transatlantic strategy.

To get episodes early and ad-free, join Political Currency Gold or the Kitchen Cabinet:

👉 patreon.com/politicalcurrency

👉 Apple Podcasts

Please note: Kitchen Cabinet is only available via Patreon.

Producer: Miriam Hall

Senior Producer: Silvia Maresca

Video Editor: Danny Pape

Executive Producer: Ellie Clifford

Political Currency is a Persephonica Production and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	The world is complex, but understanding it doesn't have to be.
0:02.3	The economist connects the dots across politics, business, science and culture,
0:06.3	keeping you informed and prepared for what's to come.
0:09.2	Look, when decisions in Beijing shift markets in New York or a populist wave ripples to your doorstep,
0:14.2	the economist explains the what and the why before your morning coffees even brewed.
0:18.9	And with a global team of reporters,
0:22.4	they make complicated issues clear so you can navigate with confidence.
0:24.7	Search the economist and make sense of the world around you. This is political currency with Ed Bulls and George Osborne.
0:46.4	So we are back in the studio in George,
0:58.6	after our trip out last week to the South by Southwest Festival just down the road.
1:03.7	Hope you enjoyed our EMQs and our live Q&A.
1:07.2	Georgia, I get an email every day called Speller News, the early bird.
1:12.2	This is John Speller, now Lord Speller, stole what Labour MP, former minister.
1:17.3	He writes a daily email, which comes out at around 7.30, his choice of the big stories of the day,
1:24.1	always quite a lot on Unite and their financial scandals, always quite a lot on
1:27.7	Australian politics reflecting John Speller's personal interests. But it says in Speller News this
1:34.1	week, he's quoting the outgoing political editor of the son, Harry Cole. His tweet,
1:39.3	Busy Day in Mayfair, writes Harry Cole, My Spies Tell me. Here, David Cameron, George Osborne, and
1:46.3	Deripaska's old mate Lord Barker lunching Robert Jenric. And then he says, only to find
1:53.2	Nigel Farage, Nick Candy and Bear Grills at a nearby table and Jacob Rees-Mogg, also in the
1:59.8	same restaurant. I mean, presumably you were looking for a discreet lunch and were a bit surprised to find Nigel Farage and Bear Grills and Jacob Rees-Mogg in there.
2:08.6	But, you know, is this the old band being put back together?
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 27 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Persephonica, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Persephonica and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.