Neither discussions of “fiscal rules” nor Rachel Reeves are usually associated with public displays of humour, but a minor budget tradition is that the chancellor peppers their speech with jokes, and Reeves made a decent go of it. Here were her main gags.
Rishi Sunak and private jets
Demonstrating that the obvious joke is sometimes the best one, Reeves looked directly at the soon-to-depart leader of the opposition when announcing a significant rise in air passenger duty for private jets.
“I can see the right honourable gentleman’s ears have pricked up,” she said, looking at Rishi Sunak, before setting out the details of the change. “That is equivalent to £450 per passenger for a private jet to, say, California?” she added, getting a decent number of laughs.
Millionaire Sunak came under fire for his use of private jets during his time in office, and it has often been speculated he would return to California after the election – something he has denied he will do.
Kemi Badenoch and bullying
Not a new one at all, but still enjoyed by the Labour benches – and probably by some Tories, too, as long as they were certain they were out of Badenoch’s eyeline.
Talking about the government’s plans to boost workers’ rights, Reeves had fun at Badenoch’s reputation for taking a forceful approach in the office, and her status as the favourite to win the Conservative leadership race.
“Having seen their colleagues repeatedly dismissed at short notice, I know they are now worried about their future under the right honourable member for North West Essex,” Reeves began.
“So they should rest easy, knowing our plan will protect working people from unfair dismissal, safeguard them from bullying in the workplace, and improve their access to paternity and maternity leave. I hope the new shadow cabinet will soon be grateful for these increased protections at work.”
The Guardian revealed in July that Badenoch had been accused of creating an intimidating atmosphere when she ran the Department for Business and Trade, with some colleagues describing it as toxic.
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A jibe at Kwasi Kwarteng
Again, to be filed under “well, why wouldn’t you?”. The temptation to mention Liz Truss’s disastrous mini-budget must have been overwhelming after her then chancellor wrote an article at the weekend offering Reeves advice while accepting that his own effort “wasn’t perfect”.
Thanking various predecessors for their advice, Reeves added a mention of Kwasi Kwarteng: “In particular, I would like to thank the former right honourable member for Spelthorne for his invaluable advice in this weekend’s papers where he concluded that his mini-budget – and I quote – ‘wasn’t perfect’. For once, Madam Deputy Speaker, I think he and I are in absolute agreement.”
And one joke from Sunak …
Much of Sunak’s response for the Conservatives was made up of expressing outrage, but he did manage one semi-joke when he said Reeves and Keir Starmer had promised to prioritise growth, and added: “Well, to be fair, the prime minister and chancellor have had a rapid impact on growth – as their plans for the economy became clear, survey after survey showed business confidence plummeting.”