Chancellor's push to improve relationship with EU remains boxed in by Labour's red lines

A "deeper, more mature relationship": this was Rachel Reeves's central message to the bloc's finance ministers in Brussels a fortnight ago. In her brief speech - the first such meeting a chancellor had attended since Brexit - Reeves mentioned the relationship with the EU nine times.

- Heather Stewart

Little detail emerged from the Brussels jaunt, but when a chancellor repeats a message nine times it is worth taking note. With the economy stagnating, Labour sources say Reeves is increasingly driving the effort to lower trade barriers with the EU.

Mujtaba Rahman, of the consultancy Eurasia Group, says: "I think there's a growing realisation, in the Treasury and beyond, that smoother trade with the EU is one of the few levers they can pull to improve growth over the medium term."

As well as seeking ways to deliver improved economic outcomes, the chancellor also hopes to placate business leaders who remain grumpy about her budget tax raid. Exactly what the government wants from the EU is much harder to discern, however, to the irritation of Brussels and pro-EU Labour MPs.