It has been a wild January for Rachel Reeves and frankly for economics in the UK and the world.When Labour swept to victory last summer, Reeves pledged she would be an "iron" chancellor, reining in public spending and improving the lives of working people through growing the economy.

As UK economics editor, my life for the last week has felt a lot like surrealist movie Being John Malkovich — but with Rachel Reeves in the central role.

British finance minister Rachel Reeves spelled out her plans to revive the country's slow-moving economy on Wednesday, adding to recent pledges to reform investment and planning rules with a commitment to back airport expansion at Heathrow.

ANALYSIS: A leading eco-campaigner has already condemned Labour as 'worse than the Tories' and the Greens are ready to strike in key constituencies