2 days ago
Chancelbore of the Exchequer: Weary factory workers steal the show in the background at Rachel Reeves' trains and spending speech
Rachel Reeves made a serious speech about a serious subject in Rochdale today, vowing to to pour money into local public transport and revealing she will U-turn on cuts to winter fuel payments.
But staff at Mellor Bus didn't appear to be gripped by her lengthy address.
Lined up behind the Chancellor of the Exchequer at their site in in Rochdale, Greater Manchester they appeared pretty disinterested in proceedings.
Ms Reeves spoke and took questions for almost an hour, during which it was the staff's display of ennui that caught the eye of people watching.
Some remained totally passive as she blamed the Tories for looming spending curbs and talked up £15.6billion of capital investment for mayoral authorities in the North and Midlands.
But others appeared restless as the event dragged on, catching the eye of those watching on social media.
One quipped: 'Poor guys now looking bored, fidgeting, swallowing yawns. Not a great visual.'
And another added: 'I wonder how much productivity is lost by these seemingly daily and horribly lengthy sermons by Starmer/Reeves, etc?!
'Company employees standing around, clearly bored to tears and not working! Mad!!'
A common feature of recent political speeches by ministers - also including the PM - is a row of workers from whichever manufacturing site they have chosen as a backdrop.
Keir Starmer was similarly backed by a huge crescent of workers in Glasgow on Monday as he unveiled the strategic spending review.
The package unveiled by Ms Reeves includes funding to extend the metros in Tyne and Wear, Greater Manchester and the West Midlands, along with a renewed tram network in South Yorkshire and a new mass transit systems in West Yorkshire.
The borrowing-funding splurge on major investment is being overshadowed by intense haggling over day-to-day budgets.
Ms Reeves is due to announce spending plans for the next three years in a week's time, but several Cabinet ministers have yet to reach settlements with the Treasury.
Tensions with Home Secretary Yvette Cooper surfaced today with warnings that cuts for police will mean some crimes effectively being ignored.
Ed Miliband is also embroiled in horse-trading over Net Zero funding, while Angela Rayner is said to be holding out over cash for housing and local government.
Economists have been warning that Ms Reeves faces having to hike taxes again and break her fiscal fules, with demands for defence spending heaping more pressure on the government's books.
In her speech, the Chancellor said: 'Over the next week you will hear a lot of debate about my so-called self-imposed fiscal rules.
'Contrary to some conventional wisdom, I didn't want to come into politics because I care passionately about fiscal rules.
'I came into politics because I want to make a difference to the lives of working people, because I believe as strongly now as I did when I was inspired to join the Labour Party almost 30 years ago that every person should have the same opportunities to thrive and to succeed.'
