<p>The notorious syndrome causes chancellors to demand savings that look ingenious but really aren’t. No 10 must be vigilant</p><p>An unwritten law of Westminster mechanics states that power, in the absence of a countervailing force, gravitates to the Treasury.</p><p>The governing agenda can be set in No 10, but a prime minister has few instruments of control as immediate and far-reaching as the purse strings in a chancellor’s hand.</p><p>Rafael Behr is a Guardian columnist</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/sep/11/why-did-starmer-cut-the-winter-fuel-allowance-its-called-treasury-brain-and-that-spells-trouble">Continue reading...</a>