Chancellor Rachel Reeves had a tearful moment during a fiery session in Parliament yesterday, with financial analysts spooked by her appearance resulting in a drop in the value of the pound
Rachel Reeves speaks at first public appearance since tears during PMQs
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been seen for the first time since her tearful moment during a dramatic day in the House of Commons.
The Chancellor joined Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Health Secretary Wes Streeting at an event in London to launch the Government’s 10-year plan for health the day after she was seen crying in the House of Commons.
Ms Reeves was all smiles as she said the plan would get the NHS “back on its feet.” She said the investment in public services was only done by sticking to her fiscal rules. She did not refer to the incident in the Commons yesterday.
Speaking today, Ms Reeves said: “Our 10-year plane will get the NHS back on its feet and make it fit for the future, led by our fantastic NHS staff. And a huge thank you to every single one of you. Funded by the £29 million that I announced in the spending review las month.”
“To be clear,” she continued. “We are spending money on taxpayers’ priorities. That would not have been possible without measures we took in the budget last year. We fixed our foundations and put the economy on a strong footing.”
Photos taken at the event showed Ms Reeves with Prime Minister Starmer appearing happy at the launch.
Ms Reeves appearance comes after she shed tears during a tense Prime Minister’s Questions session on Wednesday. The Chancellor’s crying was sent out live on TV and resulted in financial markets being spooked, knocking down the value of the pound.
Ms Reeves’ tearful appearance also led to speculation her job was at risk after a massive welfare U-turn backfired and left her with a staggering £5billion blackhole in spending plans. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has since backed his Chancellor and said it was “absolutely wrong” to suggest the incident was somehow linked to the fiasco.
“It’s got nothing to do with politics, nothing to do with what’s happened this week. It was a personal matter for her,” he said. He claimed he had a long chat with the Chancellor following PMQs.
Commons Leader Lucy Powell said Ms Reeves has “more class than most”, as she defended her “friend” after the Chancellor appeared emotional during Prime Minister’s Questions.
Ms Powell told the Commons: “Can I just take this opportunity Mr Speaker, I would rarely do this, to just put on record how proud I am of my friend the first female Chancellor.
“The very difficult and formidable job that she has been doing, and quite honestly she’s got more class than most of the rest of the members opposite on the frontbench I’m sure.”