Chancellor Rachel Reeves should not be rolling out red carpet for dodgy Chinese firms like Shein
CHANCELLOR Rachel Reeves should not be rolling out the red carpet for Shein.
Yes, the under-fire Chancellor might argue that a £50billion listing would be a boost to the economy, particularly one that’s been battered by her Budget.
Shein wants a London listing not just to raise cash but to give it a cloak of credibility amid concerns about forced labour camps in its supply chain.
There will be some investors prepared to shrug off questions on Shein.
But most should know they are flying blind.
If even Shein’s general counsel could not answer questions about what its clothes are made of, or exactly where, then what chance is there for any transparency for investors?
There is a “high chance” Rachel Reeves will have to raise taxes or make emergency spending cuts, experts said as she touched down in China earlier in the week.
Economists at Barclays said surging borrowing costs meant her room for manoeuvre had gone.
Its chief economist, Jack Meaning, said that, unless costs fell soon, “there is a high chance that she is forced to make fiscal adjustments”.
It came as the Chancellor, who met finance minister Lan Fo’an yesterday, was accused of deserting a Britain in turmoil.
One Cabinet colleague said the situation was “make or break” for Labour while another said Ms Reeves had “lost the plot”.
Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride added: “We are witnessing an economic mess of Rachel Reeves’ own making, with the impacts of her disastrous Budget continuing to bite.
“Yet astonishingly she made the choice to get on a jet rather than stay and try to get a grip.
“The Chancellor should turn right back around, and return to the UK urgently.”
Former Tory Leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith blasted: “The trip is pointless – as the disastrous ‘Golden Era’ showed, the murderous, brutal, law-breaking, communist regime in China will not deliver the growth the Labour government craves.
“Instead, she should stay home and try to sort out the awful mess her Budget has created.”