How Rachel Reeves has mapped out the agenda for Andy Burnham’s government

On Brexit, devolution and investment, the former chancellor is eerily in tune with the man who sacked her

Which senior politician has argued that “Brexit did deep damage” and that the government seeks “not to turn back the clock but to look toward a new and stable, future relationship?”

It was not Andy Burnham, who has been the torchbearer for thinking the unthinkable on Brexit since he became prime minister. Instead, these are the words of the former chancellor Rachel Reeves, in a lecture six months ago.

Reeves has taken a more thoughtful approach on how to come to terms with life outside government than some of her fellow former ministers.