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You have to feel for Rachel Reeves. Having built a solid reputation in the opposition, things have not gone to plan as Chancellor so far.
His autumn budget has drawn widespread criticism over job tax increases and extra costs for businesses, while doubts abound over whether his plans will deliver the growth Labor promised voters.
Now, a slow rise in UK borrowing costs has led to bond yields rising above levels seen after Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng’s ill-fated mini-Budget.
This is unfortunate for a Labor Party that has spent the last few years citing a rise in bond yields as evidence of Liz Truss “sunking the economy” and the Tories’ mortgage sanctions.
But is Britain’s current situation the fault of Rachel Reeves and Sir Keir Starmer or are they simply trapped by an unfortunate set of circumstances? Or is it a little of both?
Where did things start to go wrong? Was it the Budget, or was it the supposed “£22 billion black hole” and months of miserabilism? And what are gilts and why are returns important?
In this This is Money podcast, Georgie Frost, Lee Boyce and Simon Lambert delve into what went wrong in British finance and what this means for people.
Plus, in better news, Lee breaks down the jobs that generated the biggest pay increases last year and why.
Simon explains what’s going on with the US hedge fund that is raiding seven investment funds and why investors should make sure to vote.
And finally, Lee catches up with Dave Fishwick when the new Bank of Dave movie is released.