PPI - Radically Pragmatic
  • Donate
Skip to content
  • Home
  • About
    • About Us
    • Locations
    • Careers
  • People
  • Projects
  • Our Work
  • Events
  • Donate

Our Work

Ainsley on The Spectator’s Coffee House Shots Podcast: Is Rachel Reeves’s Headroom Shrinking?

  • June 12, 2025
  • Claire Ainsley

There were clear winners and losers in Rachel Reeves’s spending review yesterday but some of her announcements around capital spending and investment saw her dubbed the ‘Klarna Chancellor’ by LBC’s Nick Ferrari for her ‘buy now, pay later’ approach. Clearly trying to shake off the accusations of being ‘austerity-lite’, Labour point to longer term decisions made yesterday, such as over energy policy and infrastructure. But will voters see much benefit in the short-term? And, with the news today that Britain’s GDP shrank by 0.3% in April, will the decisions Rachel Reeves have to make only get harder before the October budget?

Lucy Dunn speaks to Michael Simmons and Claire Ainsley, former director of policy to Keir Starmer and now at the Progressive Policy Institute.

Listen to the full podcast episode.

Related Work

In the News  |  February 4, 2026

Marshall in Politico: ‘Comeback Kid’ no more: Dems aren’t protecting the Clintons from Epstein scrutiny

  • Will Marshall
In the News  |  February 2, 2026

Kahlenberg in The Chronicle for Higher Education: Does American Studies Have a Credibility Problem?

  • Richard D. Kahlenberg
Op-Ed  |  January 30, 2026

Manno for Washington Monthly: The Shrinking Space Between Home and Work

  • Bruno Manno
Op-Ed  |  January 23, 2026

Marshall for The Hill: Trump Appeases Putin While Invading US Cities

  • Will Marshall
In the News  |  January 22, 2026

Kahlenberg in The Wall Street Journal: American-Studies Journal Articles Biased Against U.S., Analysis Says

  • Richard D. Kahlenberg
Op-Ed  |  January 22, 2026

Kahlenberg and Lin for The Wall Street Journal: American Studies Can’t Stand Its Subject

  • Richard D. Kahlenberg Lief Lin
  • Never miss an update:

  • Subscribe to our newsletter
PPI Logo
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Donate
  • Careers
  • © 2026 Progressive Policy Institute. All Rights Reserved.
  • |
  • Privacy Policy
  • |
  • Privacy Settings