Downing Street has insisted Rachel Reeves has Sir Keir Starmer’s full backing after she was seen crying during PMQs.
Ms Reeves wiped away tears as Kemi Badenoch told the Commons she looked “absolutely miserable”. Labour minister Ellie Reeves then appeared to be holding her sister’s hand as she left the chamber on Wednesday.
It has been claimed by ministerial sources that the tears were a result of an argument with Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle prior to PMQs for which they said he has since apologised. The Speaker’s office has declined to comment.
Her tears came as the prime minister came under attack in a fiery PMQs over his failure to deliver £5bn of welfare cuts, which were a crucial part of the spending review.
Sir Keir refused to guarantee Ms Reeves’ future as chancellor when pressed by Ms Badenoch amid growing speculation over a reshuffle to regain his authority.
He also failed to rule out tax rises.
Comment: It’s hard to see how Rachel Reeves can survive
Until lunchtime today, it appeared that humiliated Keir Starmer was the biggest political victim of the government’s welfare U-turn. The extraordinary and piteous sight of chancellor Rachel Reeves in tears in the Commons has changed that.
She rightly deserves sympathy for the huge personal toll the welfare revolt has clearly had on her. From the moment Labour was elected, Reeves has staked everything on balancing the nation’s books and filling the Conservatives’ “£22bn black hole”.
However, the welfare rebellion by her party has blown a further £5bn hole in her plans, making it impossible for her to keep her pledge of no further tax rises. The fact that more than 100 of her MPs were prepared, in effect, to treat her and her strategy with contempt, forcing her to rip it up, was a big enough blow to her self-esteem.
Simon Walters writes:
It’s hard to see how Rachel Reeves can survive
SNP Westminster leader expresses support for Reeves after chancellor cries in PMQs
The SNP Westminster leader has expressed support for Rachel Reeves after the chancellor cried during PMQs.
In a post on X, Stephen Flynn MP said: “Like almost all MPs I don’t know why the Chancellor was upset in the Chamber today, but I do hope she is okay and back to her duties this afternoon.
“Seeing another person in distress is always very difficult, and we are wishing her well.”
Starmer ‘absolutely’ has confidence in his own judgement, Downing St says
Downing Street said Sir Keir Starmer “absolutely” has confidence in his own judgment.
Asked the question by reporters, the prime minister’s press secretary said: “Yes absolutely. This is a prime minister who in the opposition picked the Labour Party off the floor, turned it around and secured the mandate that we received last year.
“This is a prime minister who… is taking a phased approach to government. The first phase is fixing the foundations, including the £22 billion black hole the Tories left, invested record amounts in the NHS and delivered double the amount of appointments that we committed to in the election, frozen fuel duty… and now we’re delivering fairness and security through our plan for change.”
How Starmer went from defiant to defeated as he scrambled to get his bill over the line
Timms is a veteran politician of 31 years in parliament, stoic and understated in nature, thoughtful and careful in speech. He was in many ways the least likely character on the stage to deliver a moment of such theatre.
The Independent’s political editor David Maddox reports:
Sources reveal reason for Rachel Reeves argument with the Speaker
The Independent’s political editor David Maddox reports:
Rachel Reeves’ tears all the way through PMQs have been the talking point of a day where the government appears to be spiralling out of control after the welfare reform debacle.
It emerged that the chancellor had an altercation with Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle on her way into the chamber.
Now it is being suggested that the reason for the Speaker’s ire was that Ms Reeves and her team slowed down Treasury questions on Tuesday to try to lessen the scrutiny.
Neither side has formally commented on the supposed argument.
Comment | Watching Rachel Reeves crying in the Commons was quietly devastating
Our Voices Editor Victoria Richards writes:
Imagine being Rachel Reeves, for a moment. You are sitting in the House of Commons, surrounded by your peers; there to help defend your government’s decisions on welfare reforms after nights of heavy in-fighting and rebellion.
The weight of being the first female chancellor in British history lies heavy on your shoulders; your already watered-down plans to make savings with welfare cuts, even more so. I must not crumble, you might tell yourself.
Read the full comment piece below:
Jenrick posts brutal social media video saying Reeves’ ‘career is dead’
Robert Jenrick has released a brutal social media video saying Rachel Reeves’s “career is dead”, just two hours after the chancellor was seen crying on the Commons frontbenches.
Speaking as he tore up a copy of the government’s welfare reform bill, following last night’s chaotic U-turn, the shadow justice secretary said: “Rachel Reeves’ benefits bill is dead and so is her career.”
He added: “She’s been humiliated by her own backbenches and forced into her most embarrassing U-turn yet. By her own metric, she’s crashed the economy, she’s lost the confidence of the markets, and now it seems she’s lost the confidence of the prime minister too. It’s time for Reeves to go.”
Live: MPs vote on banning Palestine Action activist group under anti-terror laws
UK bonds suffer biggest selloff since October 2022 as worries build over Reeves
UK government bond prices fell by the most since October 2022 and the pound has tumbled after Rachel Reeves was seen in tears during PMQs.
The chancellor has repeatedly emphasised her commitment to fiscal rules, limiting the amount Britain will borrow, and, analysts said, the market moves reflected fears that she would be replaced, creating even more uncertainty.
The yield on the 10-year government bond, or gilt, rose as much 22 basis points on the day at one point, to 4.681%, as investors ditched UK debt.
That would be the largest one-day jump in the British benchmark yield since October 2022, in the aftermath of Liz Truss’ chaotic fiscal announcement that cost her premiership.
The selloff hit the entire gilt curve. Thirty-year yields rose nearly 22 basis points, and 2-year yields rose 11 bps.
Sterling dropped by more than 1% against the dollar, set for its largest one-day decline since mid-June and also weakened sharply against the Euro.
No10 says Starmer in constant engagement with MPs
Downing Street insisted there was “constant engagement” between the Prime Minister and Labour MPs, amid calls for a reset in relations with backbenchers.
The Prime Minister’s press secretary said: “There is constant engagement with the PLP (Parliamentary Labour Party).
“The Prime Minister meets regularly with the Parliamentary Labour Party.”
She added: “He meets regularly with the parliamentary committee, which represents backbench MPs. That engagement has been consistent and will continue to happen.”
