Last week, there was a surprise visitor to the Treasury: Gordon Brown. The former prime minister and chancellor secretly returned to his old digs for the first time since he left office 14 years ago. According to onlookers, Brown visited his old office as he caught up with the new chancellor – and his friend – Rachel Reeves.
To Brownites, news of this meeting has been received with glee. Is their main man back in the fold? The conversation between Brown and Reeves is part of a pattern for this government: New Labour old-timers returning to share their wisdom with first-time ministers. In the Department of Health, Wes Streeting has Alan Milburn and Paul Corrigan while Dan Corry, Brown’s former head of the No. 10 policy unity, is leading a review of environmental regulation.
‘I voted for the winter fuel cut. But we need a sense of what the point of all this is’
Although Reeves was perhaps closer to the late Alistair Darling, she has long admired Brown for his grasp of economics.
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