Rachel Reeves is considering changes in next month’s budget to the government’s so-called fiscal rules, which govern how much it can spend.
The changes are aimed at paving the way for billions of pounds more investment in the UK economy, to help decarbonise the economy and reboot growth.
Reeves signalled the change in direction in her speech to the Labour party conference on Monday, saying “it is time that the Treasury moved on from just counting the costs of investments to recognising the benefits too”.
But with government debt running at 100% of GDP, and a total debt pile of £2.5tn, there are questions over how far Reeves could go.