Rachel Reeves’ days are numbered as Chancellor – this huge mistake just sealed her fate

Rachel Reeves has made some very questionable decisions during her time as Chancellor. Some of the biggies – like snatching the winter fuel payment from 10 million pensioners – have been devastatingly wrong.

Her U-turn on planned welfare cuts last year showed political weakness, while the £40 billion tax howitzer in the 2024 Budget has choked the economy ever since. To be fair to the Chancellor there have been some serious global headwinds in the past 18 months, largely triggered by Donald Trump’s unpredictability.

But Ms Reeves has committed the ultimate cardinal sin with Britain staring down the barrel of an energy and cost of living crisis because of the war in Iran.

She suggested petrol retailers are profiteering from the conflict.

Kemi Badenoch told me face to face on Thursday that it is the Chancellor herself who is “price gouging”, so she can rake in soaring tax receipts from higher prices at the pumps.

The Tory leader has been joined by some of Britain’s top business chiefs, including the boss of Next, Lord Wolfson, who said the Government must not end up profiting from the crisis in the Middle East.

Mrs Badenoch has called on Labour to apologise after it emerged that there was scant evidence that petrol firms had been price gouging – the term for overcharging for a product that is in short supply or in high demand.

It comes after Ms Reeves hauled bosses and energy suppliers into Downing Street to demand they do not leave drivers paying “over the odds” as the Iran crisis deepens.

Petrol retailers pulled out of the first such meeting because of the hostile language from Whitehall, only to be coaxed back at the last minute.

When you are facing a looming crisis, surely it’s best to get as many people on side as possible, not make enemies.

But the Chancellor appears to have jettisoned that approach.

That is why many people in Westminster believe she is on borrowed time and that Keir Starmer could axe her in a post May elections reshuffle.

It’s one mistake too many for a Chancellor who is now running on empty.