Rachel Reeves admitted she was ‘under so much pressure’ minutes before being reduced to tears in the Commons, triggering a new political and economic crisis.

The Chancellor is said to have made the admission to Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle before taking her seat for an extraordinary session of Prime Minister’s Questions.

She was forced to listen in silence as Sir Keir Starmer refused to say in front of MPs that she was secure in her job, as he was battered over his welfare surrender to Labour rebels.

In an extraordinary moment that spooked markets, tears appeared to roll down Ms Reeves’ cheek as Kemi Badenoch demanded a guarantee she would stay in No11 – something the premier did not give.

She was seen being comforted by her sister Ellie – also a Labour minister – as she left the chamber, although Sir Keir did not speak to her.

Ms Reeves’ spokesman insisted afterwards that it was a ‘personal matter’ and he would not be ‘getting into’ the reasons. Downing Street said the Chancellor ‘is going nowhere’, had not resigned, and retains Sir Keir’s ‘full backing’.

No10 and No11 both denied claims Ms Reeves had an argument with Sir Keir before they entered the Commons.

But the Guardian reported that she told the Speaker about the strain she was under.

She apparently broke down when she was privately rebuked by Speaker Lindsay Hoyle for giving long answers during Treasury questions yesterday.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting tonight said Ms Reeves has ‘toughness and hard-headedness… in spades’ as he spoke out in support of the Chancellor.

‘It’s why with the choices she’s made, not always the most popular choices, is creating the conditions for our economy to grow,’ he told ITV’s Peston.

Ms Reeves looked to be holding back sobs as the clashes developed in the Commons

Rachel Reeves was seen seemingly weeping during PMQs today as Keir Starmer was battered over his welfare humbling

Mr Streeting added Ms Reeves has ‘something going on personally, not professionally’.

‘It’s easy to forget that we’re all humans as politicians and we have lives like everyone else,’ he continued.

Interest rates on 10-year and 30-year gilts – effectively the cost of government borrowing – spiked and the pound slipped sharply against the US dollar as the Commons scenes unfolded earlier.

Just a year on from his election landslide, Sir Keir’s authority has been left in tatters after his extraordinary surrender to avert defeat at the hands of Labour rebels.

Ms Badenoch said he had made ‘mistake after mistake’, highlighting volte faces over grooming gangs and winter fuel allowance. She also pointed to a visibly-upset Reeves, sitting next to the PM, saying she looked ‘miserable’ and was being used as a ‘human shield’.

Last night Sir Keir effectively tore up his benefits reforms, which had been due to shave £5billion a year off spirallling costs by the end of the Parliament – but will now actually increase spending by £100million.

The move heaped misery on Ms Reeves, who was already struggling to fill a black hole in the public finances that could amount to tens of billions of pounds.

Touring broadcast studios this morning, Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden warned there would be ‘financial consequences’ – hinting that the tax burden will need to rise again.

Ms Reeves has insisted Labour will stick to manifesto pledges of no hikes to income tax, employee National Insurance or VAT. And she had been adamant that she will not break her ‘cast iron’ fiscal rules.

But she refused to guarantee yesterday that the hated freeze in tax thresholds will not be extended.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting tonight said Ms Reeves has ‘toughness and hard-headedness… in spades’ as he spoke out in support of the Chancellor

Angela Rayner seemed oblivious as Ms Reeves wiped her eyes a few feet away along the green benches

Deputy PM Angela Rayner is said to have brokered the deal with rebels, fueling speculation that she is positioning to succeed Sir Keir

In highly emotional scenes at PMQs, Ms Badenoch said: ‘This man has forgotten that his welfare bill was there to plug a black hole created by the Chancellor. Instead they’re creating new ones. They’re creating new ones.

‘(Ms Reeves) is pointing at me, she looks absolutely miserable. 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. In January, he said that she would be in post until the next election. Will she really?’

Sir Keir replied: ‘(Mrs Badenoch) certainly won’t. I have to say, I’m always cheered up when she asks me questions or responds to a statement because she always makes a complete mess of it and shows just how unserious and irrelevant they are.

‘She talks about the black hole, they left a £22billion black hole in our economy and we’re clearing it up, and I’m really proud that in the first year of a Labour Government, we got free school meals, breakfast clubs, childcare, got £15 billion invested in transport in the North and the Midlands.

‘We’re cutting regulation, planning and infrastructure is pounding forward, building 1.5 million homes, the biggest investment in social and affordable housing, and of course the three trade deals.’

Mrs Badenoch replied: ‘How awful for the Chancellor that he couldn’t confirm that she would stay in place.’

Challenged afterwards why Sir Keir failed to give Ms Reeves the vote of confidence, the PM’s press secretary said: ‘He has done so repeatedly.

‘The Chancellor is going nowhere. She has the Prime Minister’s full backing.

‘He has said it plenty of times, he doesn’t need to repeat it every time the Leader of the Opposition speculates about Labour politicians.

‘The Chancellor and the Prime Minister are focused entirely on delivering for working people.

‘It’s thanks to the Chancellor’s management of the economy that we managed to restore stability, which has led to four interest rate cuts, wages rising faster than inflation and she recently delivered a spending review that invested in Britain’s national renewal.’

Asked whether the Prime Minister still had confidence in Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall, the press secretary said: ‘Yes.’

A spokesman for the Chancellor said: ‘It’s a personal matter which, as you would expect, we are not going to get into.

‘The Chancellor will be working out of Downing Street this afternoon.’

Aides to Speaker Lindsay Hoyle refused to comment on claims he had a row with Ms Reeves shortly before the PMQs session began.

But MPs believe Sir Lindsay only rebuked Ms Reeves for giving excessively long answers at Treasury questions yesterday, with the Speaker surprised that she immediate became upset.

The pair had already exchanged words on the subject during the session yesterday.

One MP told MailOnline that the cause was a spat with the PM before that clash. ‘There has been a major row before, just before she walked in. I think it was with Keir,’ they said.

However, both No10 and No11 denied that there was any argument between Ms Reeves and Sir Keir.

After the session, Mrs Badenoch’s spokesman said ‘personal matter doesn’t really clear it up’ and ‘you normally tell people what the personal matter is’.

He added: ‘I’m not going to speculate… I think we should find out what’s going on.’

Labour circles have been in a frenzy over how the Chancellor will handle the crisis in the public finances. One MP said: ‘She is in massive trouble. This government has lost control. It is the worst politics of anybody – it doesn’t matter whether you are left or right.

‘Governments get this after four years, but we’re not even at one year.’

Rather than leaving the Commons immediate after PMQs as usual, Sir Keir remained on the estate for about two hours having meetings.

Meanwhile, rebel ringleaders gloated that they had ‘power’ over the PM and stepped up demands for a lurch to the Left.

Rachael Maskell, whose fatal amendment sparked the benefits shambles, urged a £24billion ‘wealth tax’ to pay for more handouts.

Deputy PM Angela Rayner is said to have brokered the deal with rebels, fueling speculation that she is positioning to succeed Sir Keir. Opponents jibed it is obvious that Sir Keir will not now lead the party into the next election.

Appearing on ITV’s Lorraine show, Ms Rayner insisted she did not want the top job, joking that it would ‘age me by 10 years’.

Told that Sir Keir looked ‘tired’ and ‘exhausted’, she said: ‘It’s a very challenging job. To be fair for Keir Starmer there’s been a lot going on…

‘There’s a lot going on and the PM’s been here there and everywhere doing the job for Britain.’

Amid carnage at Westminster yesterday, the PM’s carefully assembled truce with rebels dramatically disintegrated.

Facing the threat of a massive revolt, Sir Keir opted to make yet another major concession just 90 minutes before the vote.

Ministers pledged that changes to disability handouts will not be finalised until after a review – meaning that the package as it stands will actually make the current system more expensive than before up to 2029.

Sir Keir – who is days away from marking the first anniversary of his election landslide – had already agreed that the benefits curbs would only apply to new claimants.

There was mocking laughter in the chamber as Social Security Minister Stephen Timms was asked how much the proposals would save now, and merely replied that the government would ‘set out figures in the usual way’.

Despite the humiliating manoeuvres, when the vote was held 44 Labour MPs still backed the fatal amendment and others abstained – although it was comfortably defeated by 328 to 149 as Tories largely stayed away.

Shortly afterwards, the Bill cleared second reading stage by 335 to 260, with the rebellion growing to 49. It will now be scrutinised at committee, where there could be further problems.

Keir Starmer put on a big smile for the cameras as he left for PMQs this morning, despite his authority being left in tatters after his extraordinary surrender to avert defeat at the hands of Labour rebels

But Sir Keir suffered an unfortunate moment as he tripped over the step

Keir Starmer insisted the smoking ruing of his benefits reforms would still make things better during brutal PMQs clashes with Kemi Badenoch

Rachael Maskell, whose fatal amendment sparked the benefits shambles, urged a £24billion ‘wealth tax’ to pay for more handouts

The concessions twist the knife on Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who was already struggling to fill a black hole in the public finances that could amount to tens of billions of pounds

Mr McFadden told BBC Breakfast he is ‘not going to speculate’ on what could be in the Autumn Budget but there would be ‘financial consequences’.

‘This is one moving part of the budgetary picture, it does have a financial consequence yesterday,’ he said.

‘I’m not going to speculate on where the budget lands, because there are so many other different moving parts in it, and it wouldn’t make sense for me to do that.’

Asked explicitly whether he could rule out tax rises, Mr McFadden said: ‘I’m not going to speculate on the budget.

‘We will keep to the tax promises that we made in our manifesto when we fought the election last year. But it doesn’t make sense for me to speculate on something where, as I say, there are so many moving parts of which this is only one element.’

Ms Rayner said Ms Reeves would have to ‘look’ at the finances in the Autumn after the benefits overhaul.

‘That does have a cost to it… that will have to be set out in the Budget in the normal way. Rachel, our chancellor, will have to look at the challenges we face,’ she said.

Presenter Lorraine Kelly said to the Deputy PM of Sir Keir: ‘You’re working with him all the time – he looks absolutely exhausted. Some have said he might not be here after xmas, he doesn’t have the stomach for it or anything.’

Ms Rayner replied: ‘Even before I was in politics, I said that have you ever seen a prime minister after a year or two in government?

‘And people always say to me, do you want to be Prime Minister? Not a chance. It’ll age me by 10 years within six months.’

She added: ‘It is a very challenging job, and there’s been, to be fair for Keir Starmer, there’s been a lot going on.

‘He’s been all around the world trying to repair the relationships in Europe. We’ve got the trade deals that the previous government wasn’t able to do, tackling the things like the tariffs that the President in the US wanted to put onto the UK, which would have damaged our economy again.

‘There’s a lot going on, and the Prime Minister’s been […] here, there and everywhere, doing the job for Britain.’

Polling expert Professor Sir John Curtice has referred to Sir Keir’s first year in office as ‘the worst start for any newly elected prime minister’.

He told Times Radio that the PM was ‘never especially popular’ and that ‘the public still don’t know what he stands for.’

Pressed if she would be interested in taking over No10 at some point, Ms Rayner told the ITV programme: ‘No’.

She said that she is ‘passionate’ about issues including workers’ rights and council housing.

‘I’m very interested in delivering for the people of this country, because … to be elected as an MP from my background was incredible,’ she said.

‘Having that opportunity to serve my community that have raised me, looked after me, given me opportunities, and I don’t forget that. And to be Deputy Prime Minister of this country … it’s got to count for something.’

Welfare minister Stephen Timms prompted gasps from MPs as he announced the volte face last night

Despite the humiliating manoeuvres, when the vote was held 44 Labour MPs still backed the fatal amendment and others abstained

Ms Maskell told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that ‘we need to look at those with the broader shoulders’ to balance the books.

She said she was also ‘worried about public finances’.

‘And that’s why I think we heard very much in the debate, including from myself, that we need to look at those with the broader shoulders, as the Prime Minister said, contributing more into our system, but never pushing down on the poorest,’ she said.

‘And that was what the dynamic was yesterday, that we do need to look at things like a wealth tax, £24 billion, or equalisation of capital gains tax.’

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.”

Chancellor Rachel Reeves (right) crying as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaks during Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons (House of Commons/UK Parliament/PA)

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.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves (left), Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (right) and Health Secretary Wes Streeting (second left) at the launch of the Government’s 10-year health plan (Jack Hill/The Times)

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.”

Neighbourhood heath centres could cost £20m each

Neighbourhood health centres will each cost “from the low millions to around £20m”, Wes Streeting has said.

The prime minister earlier unveiled his “three step” plan for the NHS in a speech in east London, and the health secretary is now providing details in the Commons.

Upgrades, refurbs, and new builds, oh my!

Responding to Conservative shadow health secretary Edward Argar, Streeting said: “We will this autumn set out a new workforce plan that aligns with this 10-year plan.

“He asks about neighbourhood health centres – we aim to go for 250-300 new neighbourhood health centres by the end of this plan, 40-50 over the course of this parliament.

“They will be NHS providers, and we’ll be doing a combination of new builds and also refurbishing and rejuvenating underutilised existing estate both in the NHS and in the public sector, and therefore the cost of each neighbourhood health centre will vary from the low millions to around £20m depending on whether it’s an upgrade, a refurb, an expansion, or indeed a new build.”

If they were to cost the top end of £20m each, this neighbourhood health centres scheme could cost £6bn over the 10-year period.

I had a tough day, says Reeves after Commons tears

Watch: Rachel Reeves addresses her tears at PMQs

Government borrowing costs initially rose following Reeves’ tearful appearance at Prime Minister’s Questions, when Sir Keir initially failed to guarantee that the chancellor would keep her job.

The chancellor was speaking after making a surprise appearance alongside Sir Keir Starmer to unveil the government’s 10-year plan for the NHS.

She did not go into details behind the incident saying she had been dealing with “a personal issue” adding: “Today’s a new day and I’m just cracking on with the job.”

Rachel Reeves has said she had had “a tough day” and had been “clearly upset”, as she gave her first interview since crying in the House of Commons on Wednesday.

“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.”

She said she was “totally” up for the job of chancellor and asked if she was surprised the prime minister had not unequivocally backed her in Parliament replied: “People can see that Keir and me are a team.”

She added: “I think all your viewers have had tough days, for personal reasons, for whatever reasons. I happened to be on the camera when I had a tough day.”

Speaking to broadcasters after the event, Reeves said “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.”

As she addressed staff, Reeves was smiling broadly and later shared a hug with the prime minister.

In a bid to put on a united front, the chancellor unexpectedly joined Sir Keir and Health Secretary Wes Streeting at a hospital in East London to set out details of new neighbourhood health centres.

The fall was partially reversed after Sir Keir insisted he was “in lockstep” with his chancellor, who he said would be in her job “for a very long time to come”.

Sir Keir praised his chancellor, telling the audience: “I think it’s just fantastic that she is here.”

He said decisions made by Reeves had allowed the government to “invest record amounts in the NHS”.

Asked if he had been aware that his chancellor had been crying next to him in the House of Commons, Sir Keir said he “hadn’t appreciated what was happening” as he was “literally up and down” answering questions.

“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.”

He said the incident was due to “a personal issue and I am certainly not going to say anything more about that”.

Speaking to Virgin Radio earlier in the day, the prime minister said all people could be caught “off guard” and that he had a long chat with Reeves after the incident.

“She’s very resilient and strong is Rachel,” he added.

Speculation about Reeves’ future had been growing after Labour rebels forced the government to give up some of its benefits changes and in so doing put a £5bn hole in the chancellor’s spending plans.

In order to meet her self-imposed borrowing rules, she is now likely to have to consider cutting public spending or raising taxes at the Budget in autumn.

Asked if taxes would be going up, Reeves said she wouldn’t “speculate” but added: “Of course there is a cost to the welfare changes that Parliament voted through this week and that will be reflected in the Budget.”

In a sign that she would not be changing her own restrictions on borrowing, the chancellor said “stability that we’ve been able to return to the economy… is only possible because of the fiscal discipline which is underpinned by the fiscal rules”.

Reeves’s two main rules are not to borrow to fund day-to-day public spending; and to get debt falling as a share of the UK economic output by 2029/30.

In her speech, she also said the boost to NHS spending would not “have been possible” without the measures she took in last year’s Budget.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast on Thursday, shadow chancellor Mel Stride said he “felt for” Reeves, and the incident showed politicians “are all human beings”.

But he accused the government of making “serious mistakes” and “bungling and chaos”, which he predicted would lead to tax rises in the autumn.

Rachael Maskell, one of the Labour MPs who led efforts to block the government’s benefits bill, told the BBC on Wednesday that when trying to find money, the government should “look at those with the broadest shoulders”.

“We do need to look at things like a wealth tax or equalisation of capital gains tax,” she said.

On Thursday, the government announced that its Universal Credit and Personal Independence Bill would be renamed the Universal Credit Bill, after the legislation was gutted of significant measures relating to the personal independence payment.

Sir Keir praised his chancellor, telling the audience: “I think it’s just fantastic that she is here.”

He said decisions made by Reeves had allowed the government to “invest record amounts in the NHS”.

Asked if he had been aware that his chancellor had been crying next to him in the House of Commons, Sir Keir said he “hadn’t appreciated what was happening” as he was “literally up and down” answering questions.

“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.”

He said the incident was due to “a personal issue and I am certainly not going to say anything more about that”.

Speaking to Virgin Radio earlier in the day, the prime minister said all people could be caught “off guard” and that he had a long chat with Reeves after the incident.

“She’s very resilient and strong is Rachel,” he added.

Speculation about Reeves’ future had been growing after Labour rebels forced the government to give up some of its benefits changes and in so doing put a £5bn hole in the chancellor’s spending plans.

In order to meet her self-imposed borrowing rules, she is now likely to have to consider cutting public spending or raising taxes at the Budget in autumn.

Asked if taxes would be going up, Reeves said she wouldn’t “speculate” but added: “Of course there is a cost to the welfare changes that Parliament voted through this week and that will be reflected in the Budget.”

In a sign that she would not be changing her own restrictions on borrowing, the chancellor said “stability that we’ve been able to return to the economy… is only possible because of the fiscal discipline which is underpinned by the fiscal rules”.

Reeves’s two main rules are not to borrow to fund day-to-day public spending; and to get debt falling as a share of the UK economic output by 2029/30.

In her speech, she also said the boost to NHS spending would not “have been possible” without the measures she took in last year’s Budget.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast on Thursday, shadow chancellor Mel Stride said he “felt for” Reeves, and the incident showed politicians “are all human beings”.

But he accused the government of making “serious mistakes” and “bungling and chaos”, which he predicted would lead to tax rises in the autumn.

Rachael Maskell, one of the Labour MPs who led efforts to block the government’s benefits bill, told the BBC on Wednesday that when trying to find money, the government should “look at those with the broadest shoulders”.

“We do need to look at things like a wealth tax or equalisation of capital gains tax,” she said.

On Thursday, the government announced that its Universal Credit and Personal Independence Bill would be renamed the Universal Credit Bill, after the legislation was gutted of significant measures relating to the personal independence payment.