DAILY MAIL COMMENT: Rachel Reeves is pushing UK economy to the brink

Before and after the election, Rachel Reeves never missed an opportunity to boast Labour would deliver economic change.

Now Chancellor, she has only herself and her Left-wing policies to blame for that change being significantly for the worse.

From what had been a promising recovery in the spring under the Tories, she has conjured stagnation – and possibly even a recession – out of thin air.

But given her Budget involved £40billion of business-crippling tax rises alongside huge increases in spending and borrowing, this was wholly predictable.

Labour made a massive song and dance about Liz Truss 'crashing the economy' with her ill-fated 2022 mini-Budget. 

So what does the party say about the latest troubling movements on the bond markets?

With investors deeply concerned about Britain's economic health, the cost of long-term Government borrowing has hit a 27-year high – surpassing even the peak that played a major part in Ms Truss's downfall.

Having left recklessly little headroom in the Budget, higher debt repayments mean the Chancellor is uncomfortably close to breaking her fiscal rules – set on October 30.

She has two options: Either slash public spending or kill any growth by reneging on her promise not to hike taxes again.

Increased borrowing costs also mean higher interest rates for longer, inflicting yet more pain on families with mortgages and businesses with loans.

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Market turmoil forces Chancellor to plot spending cuts or even MORE tax hikes

The only way of strengthening the balance sheet is through growth and investment – something Ms Reeves claimed to understand.

But to anybody with even a limited grasp of economics, her Budget had no chance of achieving that, which is being proven.

Since assuming office, the Government has made error after error, prioritising the short-term interests of the unproductive public sector at the expense of the nation's financial well-being.

The result is Britain in the doldrums and questions for a politician who spent so much time bragging about her economic expertise.

Keir's day of shame

By blocking a national inquiry into the mass rape of thousands of young girls by gangs made up of men of mainly Pakistani heritage, the Labour Party has shamed itself.

Keir Starmer claimed a fresh probe would delay vital action for the victims. 

But why? There is no earthly reason the two could not be done separately.

The suspicion is the PM does not want the spotlight on Labour-run local authorities who turned a blind eye to these abhorrent crimes for fear it would damage 'community cohesion' or – even worse – appear racist.

Nor is he keen to antagonise Muslim voters or expose Britain's flawed approach to multiculturalism that tolerated such evil. 

Yet the public wants a forensic inquiry to identify and punish all those responsible.

In his speech to the Labour Party conference last September, Sir Keir listed scandals where 'truth and justice' was denied to victims by the 'closed ranks of the state'.

Hillsborough was mentioned, as was Windrush. 

But not Rotherham or any other town where these bestial gangs preyed. Do the victims really mean that little to him?

South Cambridgeshire District Council has led the charge in allowing employees to work only four days a week on full pay. 

Staff, it says, should use the day off to recharge their batteries. Yet instead, one in six does a second job. 

With residents facing painful council tax rises, workers should prioritise delivering effective services for them – not topping up their own bank balances.