Six months on from Labour’s landslide General Election victory, and just a week from Rachel Reeves’ first Budget, opinion polls are not making great reading for the party just now.

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Today one of our readers contends that the Chancellor may have to row back on some of her policies in the wake of the Budget fallout.

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Christopher H Jones of Giffnock writes:

"So many cheesy grins abound amongst Labour front benchers at Westminster these days, they must have access to exceptionally good dentists; even more look like the cats that got the cream. Despite pre-election polls indicating a huge Labour majority, some three months later, they all look so pleased with themselves it is as though they find it hard to believe they are actually in Government.

This euphoria is even more surprising considering Labour’s poll ratings have absolutely tanked in recent weeks, due to the way the change to the winter fuel payment for many pensioners was managed, followed by the surrendering of an Overseas Territory to a friend of Russia and the donations scandal, to name but a few missteps which have dominated the headlines in recent weeks.

Basking in the glory of giving the Conservative Party a beating at the General Election and blaming them for just about everything that is wrong with our country, including the fact that night turns into day, will only wash for so long and they should remember Rumi’s adage, 'if you dwell on the past, you will miss the future'.

The day of reckoning is fast approaching by way of the fall-out from a Budget that has seen the biggest tax hikes imposed on this country for generations and far from promoting 'growth, growth, growth', to quote the Prime Minister, growth is forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility to fall, fall, fall after 2025. Members of this new government will soon realise that governing is no picnic and that balancing the UK budget is an almost impossible task.

As the markets have issued a stark rebuke to her attack on our economic prospects and the amount of planned borrowing outlined in the budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves may have to row back on some of her policies, such as the inheritance tax changes that could decimate the farming industry. Even many of her own back benchers are railing at what is going to be an extremely hard sell on the doorstep.

Meanwhile her boss, the Prime Minister Keir Starmer, continues to look like a rabbit in the headlights whenever confronted by a journalist who poses a question he dislikes. His take on the Budget is one of intransigence. The country was well warned by Rishi Sunak what to expect if Labour came to power and they have not been disappointed. As the new leader of the Tory party, can Kemi Badenoch now capitalise on the downturn of Labour’s popularity and restore her party’s fortunes in time for the next election? A tall order indeed."