RACHEL Reeves has found herself at the centre of fresh controversy after she was found to have "lied" on her CV.
Her LinkedIn profile had listed three years spent as an economist at Halifax Bank of Scotland. However, it has now been not-so-quietly changed to reflect her true role, which was in retail banking. The Times reported that Reeves had been “running a small administrative complaints department that also dealt with IT matters”.
The Chancellor has further spoken of a “decade” working as an economist at the Bank of England. However, it seems that was actually a six-year period – during one of which she was studying for a Master’s degree.
We at The National noticed a high degree of interest in the story, which has been one of our most-read all day. So we hit the streets of Glasgow to find out what people on the ground thought of Reeves being caught out.
What we found was that, perhaps surprisingly, no-one was too bothered. The idea that top politicians were dishonest or had “lied their way up the ladder” was considered common knowledge more than news.
There were also the suggestions that everyone had told “white lies” on the CVs, and it would not be a surprise for Reeves to have done the same.
But something else became clear: The Chancellor’s reputation surely can’t take many more negative headlines.
Asked about Reeves’s CV, the vast majority of the Glaswegians we spoke to weren’t too fussed – but they were only too keen to express their strong feelings on the Winter Fuel Payment.
READ MORE: 'What a chancer': Anas Sarwar slammed over Winter Fuel Payment U-turn
The cut to the benefit, which had been universal for pensioners before Labour came to power, was not far from anyone’s lips when they were asked about Reeves. Even those who were not personally affected thought it had been a bad misstep from the Labour Chancellor.
With three Glasgow council by-elections set to take place later this week, it may be a bid this bad will among the public that led Scottish Labour to announce a U-turn on their support for Reeves’s cut.
Whether voters will swallow that from the same Scottish Labour who voted against reversing the cut just last month is unclear.
What is clear is that Reeves has sacrificed any popularity she had before the General Election on the altar of the Winter Fuel Payment. In Glasgow at least, she is seen as just another dishonest politician.
The CV story may not be cutting through, but it is not helping her shed that image.
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