Rachel Reeves has appeared in public with Sir Keir Starmer a day after breaking down in tears alongside the prime minister in the Commons.
The pair were both at the launch of the government’s 10-year plan for the NHS in London.
Speaking to broadcasters following following the launch, Ms Reeves declined to give the reason behind her tears.
“Clearly I was upset yesterday and everyone could see that. It was a personal issue and I’m not going to go into the details of that,” the chancellor said.
“My job as chancellor at 12 o’clock on a Wednesday is to be at PMQs next to the prime minister, supporting the government and that’s what I tried to do.
“I guess the thing that maybe is a bit different between my job and many of your viewers’ is that when I’m having a tough day it’s on the telly and most people don’t have to deal with that.”
She appeared to reject suggestions that her tears at PMQs were related to a conversation with Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle or another member of government.
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Labour’s internal rift has burst into full view. Sir Keir Starmer’s push on welfare reform has sparked open rebellion—from both loyalists and Corbynites – exposing the party’s deepest tensions.
The flashpoint? Disability benefits. The fallout? Starmer’s authority dented, his party divided. Only Angela Rayner seems to have gained ground, fuelling fresh leadership speculation.
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Watch | Reeves says she was ‘clearly upset’ at PMQs and reasserts it was ‘a personal issue’
Which tax rises could Rachel Reeves introduce to pay for the £5bn welfare U-turn?
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Hunt welcomes NHS plan
Former Tory health secretary Sir Jeremy Hunt has welcomed the Labour government’s NHS 10-year plan.
Sir Jeremy said: “There is much to welcome in today’s plan, particularly bringing back family doctors, which is something that I tried – and frankly did not succeed – in doing when I was doing his role, so we all wish him well.”
He emphasised that the Care Quality Commission (CQC) must maintain its overall rating system to avoid another Mid Staffs scandal, in which hundreds of patients died as a result of poor care at Stafford Hospital between 2005 and 2009.
Responding, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: “I strongly agree with my predecessor on that, it’s really important when CQC makes reports and judgments that they can be understood by the public and understood by the people responsible for carrying out the improvements that they recommend.
“And via the NHS app, we’ll have much more transparency for patients about the range of providers, the quality of services, the views of other patients, to give patients the freedom to choose where they’re treated, when they’re treated and in a more data-driven way, as well as the importance of face to face inspections by experts in a data-driven way, we can have the early warning systems that would alert people who’ve held his office and mine that something is going seriously wrong, and we can intervene before more lives are lost unnecessarily.”
Tories say NHS plan’s goals are right but details still ‘sketchy’
Wes Streeting’s “long-term goals are right”, the Conservative shadow health secretary has said as he warned the overall 10-year plan “is still sketchy on some of the details of delivery”.
Edward Argar told the Commons: “I’m pleased to see this plan published. This Secretary of State is a rare thing these days, he’s a Secretary of State whose announcements do tend to survive largely in tact for more than a week.
“And in the case of this plan, it’s vital that it does stick. Now, the Secretary of State is not known to be short on ambition and to be fair, this is reflected in his plan today.
“It is ambitious, I believe his long-term goals are right and that the reforms he sets out today build on the reforms we set out and carried out. The desire to shift care from hospital to community, to better use technology and to move to prevention are not new at all, but they remain vital.
“Now, the NHS undoubtedly needs reform not just more cash – 38% of day-to-day Government spending going on the NHS is simply not fiscally sustainable in the long-term – we need to focus on outcomes, not just inputs.
“But this plan, while welcome, is still sketchy on some of the details of delivery and how it will be paid for without the funds he’s mentioned being eaten by pay rises and by inflation, and actually, how the shift will be staffed.”
Annoyed Clacton resident tells Farage he’s ignoring town – before Reform leader forgets his name
Annoyed Clacton resident tells Farage he’s ignoring town
Streeting rejects Farage’s ‘declinist pessimism’ and vows to build NHS fit for the future
Wes Streeting hit out at Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and “his cronies”, saying the Labour government “rejects their declinist pessimism”.
The health secretary told the Commons: “We know there are those on the right who are willing us to fail. They will exploit the crisis in the NHS in order to dismantle it.
“The honourable member for Clacton (Mr Farage) and his cronies argue that universal healthcare, that could be afforded in the 20th century, but not in the 21st.
“Well, Labour rejects their declinist pessimism, and so do the public.
“But that is the choice, sat right there – it’s change or bust, and we choose change. And we know the British people are counting on us, it falls to us to make sure that the NHS not only survives, but thrives, and we will not let our country down.
“And of course, if we succeed, we will be able to say with pride, that will echo down the decades of the… 21st century, that we were the generation that built an NHS fit for the future and a fairer Britain, where everyone lives well for longer.”
You can’t fix the NHS without fixing social care, Streeting warned
MPs have warned the Health Secretary that “you can’t fix the NHS without fixing social care” following the launch of the Government’s 10-year health plan.
Speaking in Commons on Thursday Helen Morgan, Liberal Democrat MP for North Shropshire, said a plan for the future of the NHS is “welcome” but sought reassurance on social care.
“In 143 pages of the 10-year plan, there is only a passing reference to social care,” she said.
“Everyone knows that you can’t fix the NHS without fixing social care.”
Mr Streeting said: “I hope the house is reassured by the action we’ve already taken on social care, that’s greater funding, the expansion of carers allowance, increasing the disabled facilities grant, the Fair Pay agreements, and the role and the partnership that we will see with social care to deliver better neighbourhood health services.”
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