Starmer has little choice but to bind himself closer to his chancellor

Ditching Rachel Reeves would put spotlight back on real context for decision to drop idea of breaching manifesto

When Keir Starmer was mounting the case for the prosecution against Boris Johnson for his Partygate antics, it took almost two months and a police investigation for him to formally call for the prime minister to resign. He was of the view there was no point calling for things until they were likely to happen.

This is not the philosophy of the current leader of the opposition. Since October, Kemi Badenoch has called on Starmer to sack his chancellor three times, once over a mishap with her rental licence, then for considering raising income tax, and finally because she did not in fact raise income tax.