At least Rachel Reeves is trying

Rachel from accounts is settling up. In a speech at Siemens Healthineers near Oxford, the Chancellor signalled her commitment to development by backing a third runway at Heathrow, placing her on a collision course with net-zeroers, Nimbys and the other forces of decline. The interests ranged against her are mighty and loud, but if she delivers she will draw crucial battle lines for the next general election: a Labour government that gets things done versus the party of inertia and stagnation.

The UK spent 14 years in stasis under a succession of Tory governments that preferred the maintenance of office to the exercise of power. Reeves has an opportunity to show that Labour is prepared to wield power to build a Britain fit for the future, by doing the hard graft the Conservatives were too lazy to do: revamping and expanding infrastructure, removing the hurdles to house building and home ownership, reshaping the public sector for a growing and changing population, and clearing the way for enterprise, innovation and economic growth.