Wes Streeting Says Rachel Reeves ‘Is Here To Stay’ Amid Speculation Over Chancellor’s Future

Rachel Reeves is “here to stay” as chancellor despite speculation about her future in the role, Wes Streeting has said.

The health secretary gave his cabinet colleague his full support a day after she was seen crying in the Commons during prime minister’s questions.

A spokesman for Reeves said it was a “personal matter”, but it later emerged she had had a verbal altercation with Commons speaker Lindsay Hoyle just before PMQs.

Rumours that Reeves had resigned or been sacked led to turmoil on the international bond markets, with the interest rates on government debt spiking and the value of the pound falling.

Keir Starmer – who had failed to confirm his chancellor’s job was safe when asked by Kemi Badenoch during PMQs – has since told the BBC she is doing “an excellent job”.

Streeting went further on BBC Breakfast by insisting that Reeves’ job is safe.

He said: “She is tough, she will bounce back and it’s the strength of Rachel’s leadership that has seen interest rates fall four times, that’s seen wages finally going up faster than the cost of living and has given the UK the fastest growing economy in the G7.

“There’s still more to do on the economy, we make no bones about that, and that’s why to reassure people, Rachel Reeves is here to stay as our chancellor.

“She has got the courage, the strength and the judgment to make not always the decisions that are popular or easy, but the right choices to make sure that our country is better off, but also that people at home feel better off and our businesses go from strength to strength as well as our economy.”