For Labour, this was an obvious trap. Faced with these utterly irresponsible tax cuts at a time when pressure on the public sector was approaching breaking point, Reeves was challenged by Hunt to say whether, if she became chancellor, she would reinstate them. The sensible reply would have been to say: “We will decide if and when we are elected, and discover how much of a mess you have left us.” She might also have added, “And, by the way, the next election will not be about tax cuts. It will be about the dreadful state of the public sector.”