Reeves's plans to cut welfare will bring pain and anger to the heart of Labour. It is one thing for the Chancellor to anger businesses, farmers and pensioners but now Britain's lack of growth is forcing her to take the axe to benefits.

When Labour MPs receive letters from distraught constituents asking why their support is being cut off they may well ask, '"What is the point of being in power?" Those with tiny majorities will fear that fury at Ms Reeves will push them out of a job at the next election.

Already, the Government has been forced to raid the foreign aid budget to fund the defence spending increase. This is a stomach-churning moment for many Labour people but this is what life is like in a no-growth Britain.

The Chancellor is now in danger of breaking her own fiscal rules. Her £9.9billion "headroom" is thought to have vanished as the state of the public finances worsens.

This is why she is understood to have identified billions of pounds in cuts ahead of next month's spring statement. It is no surprise that the welfare budget will be targeted.

The House of Lords economic affairs committee reported in January that the number of people of working age on health-related benefits has surged by 1.2 million since February 2020 to around 3.7 million. Spending on incapacity and disability benefits costs the taxpayer nearly £65billion.

There are good reasons why a compassionate government would want to help as many people as possible into work. But right now Labour is racing to make cuts to stop a collapse in market confidence that could have devastating consequences.

This would be a very good moment for Sir Keir Starmer and Ms Reeves to take a vow not to do anything to jeopardise growth. But employers and families are braced for more pain - much of it inflicted by the Treasury.

The so-called jobs tax - the hike in employers' National Insurance contributions - is about to kick-in. This risks fuelling inflation as companies pass high costs onto customers.

Households also face increases in council tax and higher water and energy bills. Millions of Britons will soon feel worse off.

Nearly eight out of 10 businesses surveyed by the Adam Smith Institute reported low or very low levels of confidence.

The country cannot hope to escape the knock-on impact of the inflation-fuelling, growth-lowering trade tariffs levied by President Trump against the likes of Canada, China and Mexico.

The Chancellor needs to do everything possible to lift the burden of costs off families and businesses. Every Brexit freedom that could give us a competitive edge should be grasped.

The alternative is a grim future in which many elements of the welfare state are cut away until they disappear.

There is little public opposition to slicing away foreign aid and many Britons will support a tough approach to benefits. But there will be howls of protest if entitlement to the state pension or free NHS healthcare is hacked away in future years.

Free university tuition is already a distant memory in England but other privileges of living in the UK will be deemed unaffordable if growth does not return.

The Chancellor must do much more than scramble to find spare change down the back of the national sofa. She must create the conditions in which entrepreneurs prosper for the good of us all.