From Philip Snowden in 1924 to Rachel Reeves in 2025. Labour Chancellors & the Treasury
Rachel Reeves decision to cut winter fuel benefits for many pensioners reflected a long strand of Labour thinking, tied into Treasury orthodoxy, going back to Labour’s first Chancellor Philip Snowden in 1924.
The more recent decisions to cut disability benefits and cut public spending are arguably not so much in the mould of Snowden, who presented just one Budget in May 1924 before the Government fell in November 1924. Snowden’s view was that the Chancellor should not make decisions on spending at all. Where a Budget surplus was found- and it was in 1924- it was used to pay down the National Debt.
Faced with the issue of alleviating unemployment Snowden rejected public works schemes argued for by a certain Liberal, John Maynard Keynes, unless they could be shown to be a sound investment. He argued that the ‘more positive the remedy the slower the effect’.
Snowden, who was a member of the Independent Labour Party but in reality more of a Gladstonian liberal than a socialist, argued that there wasn’t much a Chancellor could do to address inequality. That would only happen in a socialist society.
No one could accuse Rachel Reeves of promoting a socialist society but historical comparisons need to be done with care. Firstly while her various cuts have made her unpopular, some of it (social media has daily examples) relates to her being the first ever female Chancellor. Even in 2025 the world of finance and finance journalism is still very largely men in suits. Secondly she has in fact increased spending and investment in some areas, the argument being that more needs to be done. Her Spring Statement looks set to match not the Snowden of 1924 but that of the 1930/1 Labour Government where the answer to economic crisis was indeed benefit cuts.
The aforementioned Keynes had an alternative perspective of spending to promote growth. That of course does not sort out the boom/slump syndrome of capital but it can be a little more people friendly-keeping the impact on inflation in mind (which is where Reeves comes from) Fortunately in the several Labour Governments between 1924 and 2024 Treasury inspired thinking was not quite always the preferred policy, although it invariably made appearances in each one of them
Keynes, although a member of the Liberal Party and its most prominent economist, was never an MP.