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Economics

Reeves missing in action: how long can she last as Chancellor?

Amid fears of a full-scale market meltdown, Reeves's promise that "stability is change" now feels dystopian.

Maggie Pagano's avatar
Maggie Pagano
Jan 09, 2025
∙ Paid
Rachel Reeves via HM Treasury

By the close of play on Wednesday evening, Britain had come within a whisker of blackouts - despite paying the highest electricity prices in the Western world - and the closest the electricity grid has come to seizing up for more than a decade.

While the grid was scratching around pumping more gas into the network because the cold weather was stopping the wind blowing (quelle surprise) and there were problems with interconnector outages, the financial markets were having a collective breakdown and the bond vigilantes were once again circling the UK.

The pound bombed against the dollar while gilt yields soared to highs not seen for decades sparking fears of a full-scale market meltdown and 1970's-style IMF bail-out.

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