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Hello, welcome to political thinking.

The first in a new series of conversations rather than interrogations with people who shape our political thinking about what has shaped theirs.

We're in the Treasury today.

It's been in the eye of a political and economic storm,

highlighted by a front page in The Daily Star, which asked playfully on its front page,

should we be popping out for another lettuce? What it wanted to know is whether my guest this week,

the Chancellor Rachel Reeves, was, like Liz Truss before her, the woman

labelled the lettuce, going to last for less time than that salad leaf. Now, beyond the joke was

something rather serious. Worries in international financial markets. Worries about the fact that

Britain was not growing fast enough and was being

expected to pay more to finance government debt. Let's talk now to my guest, the Chancellor,

Rachel Reeves. Morning to you and thanks for having us here. Good morning.

The Treasury. It's been quite a week. How has it been for

you? So I've been in this job for just over six months now. There hasn't been a week that

hasn't presented its challenges, if I'm entirely honest. My first weekend in the treasury was when

I was confronted with the fiscal inheritance and the huge

gap in the public finances.

And this week has presented its challenges.

And it has globally.

There's been quite big movements in global financial markets.

And Britain has not been immune to those. lots of uncertainty about what's happening in the

...