Look behind all the flummery, the exaggerated public gestures of affection and the relentless self-congratulation during President Emmanuel Macron's state visit to Britain this week.
As Labour's appetite for more spending, especially on welfare, becomes ever more voracious, so its search for new tax revenues to foot the bill becomes ever more desperate.
By common consent, on the Left almost as much as on the Right, Keir Starmer has got off to the worst start ever of any incoming British Prime Minister.
Fighting for her political life after the latest U-turn on disability benefit cuts, Rachel Reeves has now lost her most important Whitehall cheerleader.
At a glitzy fundraising gala for one of Labour 's rising stars on Monday night, the mood was buoyant. The party faithful cheered speakers including Lord Mandelson...