Downing Street has insisted that Sir Keir Starmer will not sack Rachel Reeves after the Chancellor appeared visibly upset during a heated exchange at Prime Minister’s Questions.
Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesman said that Reeves is “going nowhere”, adding that the Chancellor has “not offered her resignation”.
He said: “The Chancellor is going nowhere. She has the Prime Minister’s full backing.”
He has said it plenty of times, he doesn’t need to repeat it every time the Leader of the Opposition speculates about Labour politicians.
“The Chancellor and the Prime Minister are focused entirely on delivering for working people.”
It’s thanks to the Chancellor’s management of the economy that we managed to restore stability, which has led to four interest rate cuts, wages rising faster than inflation and she recently delivered a spending review that invested in Britain’s national renewal.
Rachel Reeves shed a tear during PMQs today as Sir Keir Starmer declined to guarantee she would remain in place until the election.
The Prime Minister faced questions from Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch about whether the Chancellor would remain in post.
Sir Keir dodged the question about whether Ms Reeves would be in place for the remainder of the Parliament, saying Mrs Badenoch “certainly won’t.
The Tory leader replied: “How awful for the Chancellor that he couldn’t confirm that she would stay in place.”
Ms Badenoch said Sir Keir was “using” the chancellor as a “human shield… to hide his own incompetence”.
She said Ms Reeves looks “absolutely miserable”, adding that MPs are going on the record “saying the chancellor is toast.
“She is a human shield for his incompetence,” Ms Badenoch said.
Downing Street also insisted that the Prime Minister still has confidence in Work & Pensions Secretary, simply responding: “Yes.
No11 separately confirmed that Reeves appeared upset due to a personal matter.
“It’s a personal matter, which – as you would expect – we are not going to get into. The Chancellor will be working out of Downing Street this afternoon,” a spokesman added.
The exchanges came as the Government faced its largest rebellion yet, with 49 Labour MPs voting against welfare reforms despite last-minute concessions.
Ministers had shelved plans to restrict eligibility for the personal independence payment (PIP), with any changes now only coming after a review of the benefit.
Despite the changes, the legislation cleared its first parliamentary hurdle by 335 votes to 260, a majority of 75.
Earlier, Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden warned there would be “financial consequences” to the welfare U-turn.
Economists at the Institute for Fiscal Studies and Resolution Foundation think tanks warned that Tuesday’s concessions meant Ms Reeves could now expect no “net savings” by 2029/30 – a key year for meeting her fiscal targets.
The Chancellor has seen the £4.8 billion predicted savings from welfare changes whittled away through the Government’s changes to plans designed to keep backbenchers onside.
The assurances about Reeves’ position come amid ongoing challenges for the Government over its economic policies and internal party management.
