Watch: Rachel Reeves appears to cry at PMQs after Starmer refuses to guarantee she will stay on
The Chancellor sat next to Sir Keir Starmer whilst he took a grilling from the Commons on his watered-down welfare bill, which was passed yesterday in a crunch vote.
Before the 30-minute session Ms Reeves appeared visibly upset, with Ms Badenoch saying that the Chancellor is 'toast' and a 'human shield" for Sir Keir's 'incompetence'.
Ms Badenoch then suggested that the prime minister had failed to confirm whether Ms Reeves would retain her position, saying: 'How awful for the Chancellor that he couldn't confirm that she will stay in place.'
A spokesperson for the Chancellor later said that she was dealing with a 'personal matter' and Downing Street quickly confirmed she was 'going nowhere'.
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Leader Live
13 minutes ago
- Leader Live
Rachel Reeves insists she is ‘cracking on with the job' after Commons upset
The Chancellor and Sir Keir Starmer shared a hug, and the Chancellor smiled throughout her first public appearance after she broke down in tears in the House of Commons. Ms Reeves would not, however, be drawn into answering questions about the 'personal matter' which had upset her ahead of Wednesday's Prime Minister's Questions. She told broadcasters: '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. '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.' The Chancellor rejected suggestions that her tears were related to a conversation with Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle or another member of Government. 'People saw I was upset, but that was yesterday. Today's a new day and I'm just cracking on with the job,' she added. Sir Keir gave a full-throated defence of his Chancellor, and said he had not appreciated how upset she was while he was focused on the cut and thrust of Parliament's most-viewed weekly event. On Thursday, the Chancellor appeared alongside the Prime Minister and Health Secretary Wes Streeting as the Government launched it's 10-year plan for the NHS in London. Ms Reeves made no mention of Wednesday's incident in the Commons as she made her first public appearance since crying in the chamber. Smiling as she spoke at a health centre in London, the Chancellor insisted the NHS plan was 'good for the health of our nation and good for the health of our nation's finances'. She also stopped to take selfies with nurses and other healthcare staff who were gathered for the launch. Sir Keir and Ms Reeves embraced as he made his way to the podium to give a speech after the Chancellor had finished. The Prime Minister poured praise upon her in an open show of unity, hailing the decisions made by the Chancellor as playing a part in the Government investing 'record amounts in the NHS'. Sir Keir said he did not 'appreciate' that Ms Reeves was crying behind him at PMQs as the event is 'pretty wired'. 'It goes from question to question and I am literally up, down, question, looking at who is asking me a question, thinking about my response and getting up and answering it,' he said. Sir Keir added: 'It wasn't just yesterday. No prime minister ever has had side conversations in PMQs. It does happen in other debates when there is a bit more time, but in PMQs it is bang, bang, bang, bang. 'That is what it was yesterday and therefore I was probably the last to appreciate anything else going on in the chamber.' As the Prime Minister took questions from the media, several journalists invited Ms Reeves to comment on her tears, but only Sir Keir answered. Earlier, the Prime Minister said all people could be caught 'off guard' by their emotions, but the Chancellor had to deal with it while on camera in Parliament. He said she was doing an 'excellent' job, would remain in place beyond the next general election, and that they were both absolutely committed to the Chancellor's 'fiscal rules' to maintain discipline over the public finances. UK Government bonds rallied and the pound steadied on Thursday, after reassurances from the Prime Minister about the Chancellor's future. The sight of her in tears on Wednesday, and the £5 billion black hole in her public spending plans as a result of the welfare U-turn had spooked the markets, triggering a sharp sell-off of bonds, with the yield seeing the sharpest increase since US President Donald Trump's tariff plans shook up financial markets in April. Back in the Commons chamber, Commons Leader Lucy Powell defended her 'friend' Ms Reeves, and said 'she's got more class than most of the rest of the members opposite on the frontbench'. Leadership is hard. There are good days, some very good, and bad days, some very bad. The resilience you need for top jobs is superhuman. But if a Chief Exec cried in public, if a military chief said they hadn't read the operational plan properly because they had a bad day,… — Claire Coutinho (@ClaireCoutinho) July 3, 2025 The Conservatives meanwhile suggested Ms Reeves' public show of emotion was not acceptable. In a post on X shared by Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho said: 'Leadership is hard. There are good days, some very good, and bad days, some very bad. The resilience you need for top jobs is superhuman. 'But if a chief exec cried in public, if a military chief said they hadn't read the operational plan properly because they had a bad day, they would not be forgiven for it.'
Telegraph
18 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Sadiq Khan under fire over Wimbledon travel chaos
Sir Sadiq Khan has come under fire after Wimbledon was beset by travel chaos. The Labour Mayor of London, who is the chairman of Transport for London (TfL), was criticised for failing to ensure the Tube had enough capacity for those attending the Championships. TfL issued a public apology on Wednesday after attendees faced overcrowded trains, gridlocked stations and long delays on the District Line. It said a track fault at Tower Hill, in east London, was disrupting service along the line. More than 84,000 people have attended the first two days of the tennis championships in south-west London. But the Tube has struggled to cope, with issues including signal failures and a fire alert at Southfields – the station closest to the All England Club. Simon Wright, 68, told The Telegraph the issues were the 'worst that I have seen'. ' Wimbledon are telling people to not arrive by car and TfL are saying they can not run any more trains,' the Save Wimbledon Park campaigner said. 'They cannot manage the number of people they have got at the moment. 'I think it's crazy. It's the worst that I have seen, especially because the District Line has been falling over.' Helen Kaufmann, who had tickets for court two, said she and her husband Alex missed the start of the first match because they were left stuck in the 'really crowded' Southfields station. 'We had to wait for nine minutes at West Brompton and got onto an exceedingly busy District Line,' Mr Kaufmann said. Mrs Kaufmann added: 'The [Southfields] platform was super busy, really crowded, really hard to get off. We probably waited as long to get off as we did on the train.' Anas Ramsey, a traffic marshal outside Southfields, said the transport network near the All England Club had been beset by issues this year. 'There have been a lot of problems,' he said. 'There was a fire on the tracks, there were signal delays.' Keith Prince, the Conservative transport spokesman in the London Assembly, said: 'TfL operating problems are becoming an increasingly regular issue that plague Londoners and are now ruining people's day as they try to enjoy the great events available in our city. 'It's not good enough - Khan as TfL Chair needs to get a grip of this and demand better. What are we paying for?' Tory City Hall leader Susan Hall said: 'This is a disgrace to London and so many people who come to this country to watch our wonderful Wimbledon event will be put off by scenes like this. 'That's even if they get to Wimbledon without having their phone or wallet stolen. 'The amount of fare dodging we see on a daily basis is compounding this. 'Sadiq Khan must urgently act now to establish why this has happened or he risks tourists simply deciding never to come back.' Paul Kohler, the Liberal Democrat MP for Wimbledon, said in a letter to Andy Lord, the commissioner of TfL, that the issues had 'severely affected' passengers. 'Our world-renowned tennis tournament has begun this week, yet attendees are now being caught up in cancellations and delays,' he said. A spokesman for TfL said: 'We apologise to customers affected by the disruption on the District line, which is due to a track fault at Tower Hill. 'Our engineers are working hard to rectify the fault as soon as possible and restore a good service. District line customers are advised to allow extra time for their journeys and to check before they travel using TfL Journey Planner or the TfL Go app.' The spokesman added: 'The issues earlier in the week were caused by Network Rail signalling issues – they own the track on the Wimbledon branch so will be able to give more details. The issues yesterday and today are related to the track fault at Tower Hill that we are urgently working to fix.'
The Guardian
28 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Reeves says she is 'getting on' with job as she responds to questions about tears at PMQs
Rachel Reeves says she is 'getting on' with the job of chancellor after her tearful appearance at prime minister's questions. 'Clearly I was upset', she said, but it was her job to be at PMQs 'supporting the government and that's what I tried to do'.
