Rachel Reeves faces questions over future in Hamlet-inspired Tory attack
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Rachel Reeves’ handling of the economy was compared to a Shakespearean tragedy, as the Tories questioned her future by claiming: “To go, or not to go, that is now a question.”. Shadow chancellor Mel Stride attempted to summon the spirit of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet during a House of Commons attack in which he accused the Government of making promises to voters while “pouring the poison into their ear”.
He also joked the decision of Ms Reeves not to answer an urgent Commons question on the economy ahead of her weekend China trip had been branded the “Peking duck” in Labour circles. Ms Reeves argued the “economic headwinds” facing the UK showed the Government must go “further and faster in our plan to kickstart economic growth” after it “plunged” under the Tories.
Downing Street has said Ms Reeves will be Chancellor for the “whole of this Parliament” following questions over whether her future in Number 11 was guaranteed amid high Government borrowing costs. Responding to a statement from the Chancellor, Mr Stride told MPs: “We have seen it all before. Socialist governments, that think they can tax and spend their way to prosperity, Labour governments that simply do not understand that if you tax the living daylights out of business, you will get stagnation.
“They do not understand, because there is barely a shred of business experience on the frontbench opposite.”. He added: “This whole sorry tale is nothing short of a Shakespearean tragedy, playing out before our eyes. This is the Hamlet of our time. They promised the electorate much, while pouring the poison into their ear.
