Chancellor Rachel Reeves said she was ‘clearly upset’ during PMQs in the Commons on Wednesday – but declined to give any further details on why she was crying in the chamber
Rachel Reeves says ‘personal issue’ the cause of emotions in the Commons
Rachel Reeves has come out fighting after appearing to cry at PMQs yesterday – insisting she is “totally” up for the job as Chancellor.
She said she was “clearly upset” in the Commons – but declined to give a reason behind her tears. 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.”
Asked whether she was surprised that the Prime Minister had not offered her more full-throated backing in the chamber, Ms Reeves said: “I think that people can see that Keir and me are a team.
“We fought the election together, we changed the Labour Party together so that we could be in the position to return to power and over the past year we’ve worked in lockstep together whether that is on the budget, on the spending review or indeed on our measures to improve public services like the 10-year plan for the NHS.”
Asked whether she could reassure people that she was up for the job, she said: “I totally am. This is the job that I’ve always wanted to do. I’m proud of what I’ve delivered as Chancellor. Look, I think all of your viewers have had tough days… I happen to be on camera when I have a tough day.”
The Chancellor appeared to reject suggestions that her tears at PMQs were related to a conversation with Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle or another member of Government. Asked whether this was the case, she told broadcasters: “No, it was a personal issue, and I’m not going into the details of that.
“It wouldn’t be right or fair. People saw I was upset, but that was yesterday. Today’s a new day and I’m just cracking on with the job.”
Ms Reeves made the comments after appearing at the launch of the 10-year plan for the NHS. She was introduced by Health Secretary Wes Streeting, before she then welcomed the Prime Minister to the stage. Keir Starmer and Ms Reeves embraced as he made his way to the podium.
At a Q&A at the end of the event, the PM admitted he did not “appreciate” that Ms Reeves was crying behind him at Prime Minister’s Questions because of the swift nature of the Commons debate.
Asked why he did not react to the Chancellor’s tears, Sir Keir told reporters: “I didn’t appreciate what was happening because, as you will probably appreciate, PMQs 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.
“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. That is just a straightforward human explanation.”
Elsewhere Mr Starmer also insisted he was proud of his first year in office, but admitted the Government had not got the process of its welfare reform Bill correct. “We didn’t get the process there right, but I think it is right that if we are looking at the entire year that we look at all the things we have delivered,” he said.
It comes after he faced the biggest rebellion of his premiership over welfare reforms earlier this week. Major concessions over the plans have now blown a black hole in his and Ms Reeves’s spending plans.