Labour’s looming spending review chaos

<p>If Labour was hoping for one of those quick and easy policy U-turns, they certainly haven’t got it. With Rachel Reeves’ spending review a scant two weeks away, the government is still having trouble explaining the details - or providing any detail, really - on how winter fuel payments are now going to work. Now that cutting the two-child benefit cap is in the mix, who is going to explain what is playing out to the general public, and when? Ed Balls thinks it’s all pretty messy, while George Osborne has got a different word for it: baffling.</p><br /><p>Meanwhile, King Charles has just been in Canada to open up the parliamentary session. An interesting piece of soft diplomacy as Prime Minister Mark Carney navigates a tense relationship with US President Donald Trump. The pair consider - with an unprecedented second state visit to the UK for Trump on the horizon and a chaotic on-again off-again US trade war underway - how should the government best handle it?</p><br /><p>And they turn their attention to the US tech giants dominance of the UK app store. Is the Apple-Google duology stifling UK growth?</p><br /><p>A reminder that we’re doing our first Political Currency live show - we’ll be taking to the stage on Thursday 5th June 2025 at SXSW London. Want a chance to grab a FREE ticket and a pass to the WHOLE six day business conference, worth £600?! <a href="http://patreon.com/politicalcurrency" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sign up to be a Kitchen Cabinet member</a> to hear how you can get your hands on a ticket!&nbsp;</p><br /><p>To get episodes early and ad-free, join <strong>Political Currency Gold</strong> or the <strong>Kitchen Cabinet</strong>:</p><p>&nbsp;👉<a href="https://www.patreon.com/politicalcurrency" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> patreon.com/politicalcurrency</a></p><p>👉<a href="https://apple.co/politicalcurrency" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> Apple Podcasts</a></p><br /><p><em>Please note: Kitchen Cabinet is only available via Patreon.</em></p><br /><p>Producer: Miriam Hall</p><p>Senior Producer: Silvia Maresca</p><p>Video Editor: Oliver Geraghty&nbsp;</p><p>Executive Producer: Ellie Clifford</p><br /><p>Political Currency is a Persephonica Production and is part of the Acast Creator Network.</p><hr /><p style="color: grey; font-size: 0.75em;"> Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: grey;" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>