GB News hosts unleashed a storm of criticism on Britain’s economic state, painting a picture of chaos and political infighting
Rachel Reeves has proved a divisive character in British politics. (Image: Getty)
GB News hosts on Sunday painted the state of Britain’s economy under the watch of Chancellor Rachel Reeves as dire, as she now seems to be a chancellor “in name only”. In a fiery segment, show guests Lewis Oakley and Emma Woolf didn’t hold back as they tore into the government’s handling of the crisis. Departments, they said, are “at loggerheads,” with ministers more focused on “backstabbing” than solving the spiralling financial mess.
Running the economy, especially “in the state it’s in now,” was described by political commentator Woolf as “such a huge job” that even a far more “qualified and talented” Chancellor would struggle to cope. But the most brutal moment came when Reeves was brushed off entirely, as Woolf branded the situation “an absolute disaster”.
Emma Woolf discussed Rachel Reeves on GB News (Image: GB NEWS)
The attack comes at a sensitive time for Reeves, who was once seen as one of Sir Keir Starmer’s closest political allies, but has found herself increasingly sidelined as Starmer grapples with growing unrest inside Labour.
Number 10 announced that they are in the “second phase” of government as they reshuffled, hinting that the “first phase” had not gone well, as they recalibrated the centre of economic decision-making in effect, sidelining the Chancellor..
The arrival of Minouche Shafik as the PM’s new economic adviser has made the Chancellor suffer a ruthless and very public downgrade to her status. Meanwhile, Darren Jones has been given the newly-created position of chief secretary to the prime minister after he previously served as the chief secretary to the Treasury.
In his previous role, he was tasked with scrutinising spending across the government and looking to make operations more efficient. Starmer is also replacing his principal private secretary Nin Pandit, a senior civil service role, with Dan York-Smith, who previously oversaw tax and welfare policy at the Treasury.
Number 10’s director of communications, James Lyons, will leave while Tim Allan, the former adviser to Tony Blair who founded the communications agency Portland, will become the government’s executive director of communications.
Starmer is also moving some policy advisers around and re-asserting individual responsibilities as part of an effort to take control of policymaking amid ever increasing scrutiny and critcism.
