Government publishes AI opportunities action plan amid backdrop of economic uncertainty in UK
With growth floundering and the Treasury at risk of having to announce further spending cuts, there has been some talk in the media about whether Rachel Reeves will survive a full term as chancellor. Yesterday the Sunday Times published a long article on this topic by its chief political commentator, Tim Shipman, whose work is viewed as required reading in most Westminster circles. Shipman did not seem to rate her chances very highly. He wrote:
UK gilt prices are rising further and faster than in other comparable economies and many in the City think Reeves’s decisions since July have made the situation worse, not better. “She has lost credibility with the financial markets,” said a former Downing Street aide who now advises leading businessmen. “They don’t think she knows what she’s doing. They don’t believe a word she says. They don’t believe she has any idea how to fix this” ….
In the City, they think [Keir] Starmer wants freedom of manoeuvre if Reeves is unable to salvage the situation. “The markets think Starmer will use her for the March statement and the spending review – all the tough stuff – then bin her,” the former No 10 adviser said. “I think they’re affording Starmer too much political nous, but that’s what he should do.”
Rachel Reeves is the chancellor for a good reason, because she’s the right person to do the job.
And one of the things I’d say about those kind of stories is when we won the general election, we won it as a team that was not afflicted by the kind of rivalries and personalities that had sometimes afflicted governments in the past. And we govern as a team and Rachel’s got the support of me, the prime minister and the whole cabinet.
At what point in history would you have us press the pause button? This is the story of historical and economic change. And we’re on the threshold of another huge one. And the country’s got to seize the opportunities from this.
If we, again, follow the logic of your questioning, just try to press the pause button in previous history, then we’d never have become an industrialised country in the first place.
Continue reading… The Guardian Read More Government publishes AI opportunities action plan amid backdrop of economic uncertainty in UKWith growth floundering and the Treasury at risk of having to announce further spending cuts, there has been some talk in the media about whether Rachel Reeves will survive a full term as chancellor. Yesterday the Sunday Times published a long article on this topic by its chief political commentator, Tim Shipman, whose work is viewed as required reading in most Westminster circles. Shipman did not seem to rate her chances very highly. He wrote:UK gilt prices are rising further and faster than in other comparable economies and many in the City think Reeves’s decisions since July have made the situation worse, not better. “She has lost credibility with the financial markets,” said a former Downing Street aide who now advises leading businessmen. “They don’t think she knows what she’s doing. They don’t believe a word she says. They don’t believe she has any idea how to fix this” ….In the City, they think [Keir] Starmer wants freedom of manoeuvre if Reeves is unable to salvage the situation. “The markets think Starmer will use her for the March statement and the spending review – all the tough stuff – then bin her,” the former No 10 adviser said. “I think they’re affording Starmer too much political nous, but that’s what he should do.”Rachel Reeves is the chancellor for a good reason, because she’s the right person to do the job.And one of the things I’d say about those kind of stories is when we won the general election, we won it as a team that was not afflicted by the kind of rivalries and personalities that had sometimes afflicted governments in the past. And we govern as a team and Rachel’s got the support of me, the prime minister and the whole cabinet.At what point in history would you have us press the pause button? This is the story of historical and economic change. And we’re on the threshold of another huge one. And the country’s got to seize the opportunities from this.If we, again, follow the logic of your questioning, just try to press the pause button in previous history, then we’d never have become an industrialised country in the first place. Continue reading…
