Shadow chancellor and retired economist Rachel Reeves is expected to become the UK's first woman finance minister after the next general election, and she has a book out today titled The Women Who Made Modern Economics. Unfortunately for Reeves, it turns out that her book about people whose contributions have gone unrecognized is full of passages taken from other works without attribution.
The Financial Times said its reporters had spotted more than 20 examples of apparent plagiarism in the book, including entire sentences and paragraphs. … For example, a sentence about the relationship between author H.G. Wells and economist Beatrice Webb is identical to one on Ms Webb's Wikipedia page. Another paragraph about international aid under New Labour is very similar to a foreword written by Hilary Benn, who is now the shadow Northern Ireland secretary, on the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change website. Only a few words in the paragraph in the book differ from Mr Benn's foreword.
Added the BBC, unemphatically: "Ms Reeves is understood to have written the book herself."
Looks like she kinda tipped everyone off with an odd remark about her sources at a press event. She would have been caught anyway, but crediting "Wikipedia" made sure she was caught immediately. There's something deliciously stupid and Iannucci-esque about it.
Having decided to avoid distinguishing itself on policy, the Labour Party's one job is to present itself as a group of competent, qualified people ready to take over the government from the shambolic bigots currently running the show. One job, Rachel!
