PPI - Radically Pragmatic
  • Donate
Skip to content
  • Home
  • About
    • About Us
    • Locations
    • Gallery
    • 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

Publication  |  September 16, 2026

Build Back Belief: France Update

  • Deborah Mattinson Claire Ainsley Chris Clarke
Publication  |  September 14, 2026

Change Britain Build Back Belief: UK Update

  • Deborah Mattinson Claire Ainsley
Op-Ed  |  August 14, 2026

Marshall for The Hill: Don’t Let Socialists Sabotage a Democratic Comeback

  • Will Marshall
Press Release  |  August 12, 2026

Wisconsin Democrats Give Their Party a Fighting Chance in November

  • Will Marshall
Press Release  |  August 5, 2026

Michigan Democrats Boost Republican Midterm Hopes

  • Will Marshall
Op-Ed  |  July 31, 2026

Marshall for The Hill: Don’t Panic over Data Centers — Support a Better Path Forward

  • Will Marshall
  • 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