I feel sorry for ‘Rachel from accounts’

There’s no statute of limitations on reporting a government minister’s embarrassing oops-a-daisy. It’s no good them doing a duck-dive, hoping that by the time they resurface everyone will have forgotten all about it. I remember after the Salisbury poisonings in 2018, Gavin Williamson, who was defence secretary at the time, appeared genuinely thrown when I brought up his Vicky Pollard-like comments about the Kremlin (‘Go away and shut up!’) in a live TV interview a few weeks later. I think it’s fair to say the exchange that followed wasn’t his finest hour. So it was when Rachel Reeves appeared on Good Morning Britain last week. It was the Chancellor’s first appearance since the toe-curling ‘Rachel from accounts’ story broke in November (when the Telegraph accused Reeves of exaggerating on her CV). By last week she probably thought her first Budget and Wednesday’s big speech on growth had eclipsed the issue. So her eyes widened when I said: ‘This is your first interview on GMB since allegations about you enhancing your CV. We don’t mean to embarrass you, but we’d just quickly like to go through it…’ You can see her stuttering reply on YouTube, TikTok, etc. I felt a bit sorry for her, to be honest. Lots of people tell little porkies to boost their career backstory. Frankly, there are worse offences. But if you move into 11 Downing Street, you can expect to be called out on any embellishments which emerge. Time may be a great healer, but only after you’ve got up on your hind legs and explained yourself. Reeves should have done that in November.