Downing Street stated that chancellor Rachel Reeves has the prime minister’s full support following her emotional appearance in the House of Commons.Speculation over the chancellor’s future grew after PM Kier Starmer declined to confirm during Prime Minister’s questions whether Rachel Reeves would stay in her role until the next election. Reeves, seated beside him on the front bench, appeared visibly distressed during the exchange.Following the incident, Number 10 affirmed that Reeves was “going nowhere,” while her spokesperson explained that she had been dealing with a “personal matter.”However, the dramatic scenes in the Commons seemed to unsettle financial markets, leading to a drop in the pound against major currencies and an increase in government borrowing costs.During a tense PMQ’s, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch fiercely criticized the government’s latest U-turn on welfare reform, which could significantly undermine Rachel Reeves’ budget plans.Badenoch claimed the chancellor would now have to raise taxes “to pay for his incompetence” and questioned whether she would still hold the role by the next election. She also remarked that the chancellor “looks absolutely miserable.”She added, “Labour MPs are going on the record saying that the chancellor is toast, and the reality is that she is a human shield for his incompetence.”The PM responded”No prime minister or chancellor ever stands at the despatch box and writes budgets in the future.”He defended the welfare reform bill, claiming it would help more people return to work, and placed the blame on Tory “stagnation” for causing the very issues the legislation aims to address, while facing criticism in the house of commons over the watered-down version of the bill, which passed in a crucial vote on Monday.He avoided answering Badenoch’s question regarding the chancellor’s future, but his press secretary later told reporters that Reeves had his “full backing” and was “going nowhere.”This followed Starmer’s last-minute decision to scrap key elements of the government’s welfare reform plan in order to prevent a backbench rebellion. The move could wipe outthe savings Reeves was relying on to achieve her goal of covering day-to-day spending with tax revenue.Reeves was seen wiping away tears during the PMQs exchanges. When asked about her emotional state, her spokesman said,”It’s a personal matter, which – as you would expect – we are not going to get into.”As Reeves exited PMQs, her sister Ellie Reeves, also a Labour MP, took her hand in a visible gesture of support. Afterward, Badenoch’s spokesperson responded, saying that a “personal matter doesn’t really clear it up,” adding, “you normally tell people what the personal matter is.”
