Reshuffle gymnastics prepare Starmer to walk tricky budget tightrope

Economists say new team could help push back against Treasury but PM needs to spell out what he stands for

• Starmer shakes up No 10 operation with mini-reshuffle

• Downing Street shake-up: who’s in and who’s out at No 10

Dan York-Smith, the former senior Treasury official Keir Starmer has appointed as his principal private secretary, is a qualified international gymnastics judge – a skill set that may come in handy as Labour limbers up for the formidable balancing act of Rachel Reeves’s autumn budget.

After a dizzying series of backflips on tax and spending, some of which were blamed squarely on the chancellor, the government is preparing to raise taxes – at the same time as acknowledging that with inflation on the rise again, the public are still in the grip of a cost of living crisis.