Reeves gambles on ‘renewing Britain’ to win trust of voters and see off Reform | Spending review 2025

Rachel Reeves has gambled billions of pounds of infrastructure spending on “renewing Britain” before the next election but faces a challenge to convince voters Labour can deliver change amid deep cuts to everyday spending.

The chancellor admitted that “too many people in too many parts of our country” were yet to feel the benefits of the change they voted for when Labour was swept to power with a huge majority last year.

With many Labour MPs already feeling unsettled about the electoral threat of Reform UK, she has already launched a charm offensive to convince them that her spending review on Wednesday was not a return to austerity.

Economists warned that mounting pressures on spending, including the U-turn on winter fuel payments for pensioners and Labour MPs’ backlash against…