Rachel Reeves pursues political prize over £22bn financial hole

Carefully honed message of Commons speech is having to make tricky decisions because Tories left us a mess

The basics of Rachel Reeves' Commons statement about her fiscal inheritance from the Conservatives were simple: there is a 22bn financial hole that needs fixing. But there was a bigger picture being presented, and with it, a potentially invaluable political prize.

At the heart of the chancellor's near 30-minute presentation to the Commons was a narrative that most MPs and some of the public will already be familiar with: we are having to make tricky decisions because the Tories left us a mess.