Rachel Reeves will need all the luck she can get on Mission Impossible to US

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is heading to Washington DC on an improbable, if not impossible, mission

In the Mission: Impossible films, a daring government agent is given a mission that is, er, impossible but (spoiler alert) somehow still manages to pull it off.

Today, the UK’s not-so-terribly-daring Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, will set out for Washington for talks at the IMF (by which we mean the International Monetary Fund, not the Impossible Mission Force, although it might as well adopt the name, given the chances of success of its most pressing priority: getting Donald Trump to drop his ridiculous tariffs).

Special Agent Rachel Reeves knows the importance of health and safety (Picture: Jonathan Brady/WPA pool) | Getty Images

But Reeves’ main mission – should she choose to accept it – is actually to meet Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and persuade him to persuade Trump to stop being so mean to Britain and remember we’re supposed to have a ‘Special Relationship’. Perhaps not impossible, but definitely improbable, state visit or not.

It is one of those rare occasions when a UK Cabinet minister travels with the best wishes and sympathies not only of her own party but many in the opposition too. As the tape always says, “this message will self-destruct in five seconds... good luck” Rachel.