Starmer declines to confirm Reeves will be Chancellor at next election
Sir Keir Starmer has declined to confirm that Rachel Reeves will be Chancellor at the next general election.
The Prime Minister was asked about Reeves’ role following a speech in London on artificial intelligence (AI) and insisted he was “completely confident” in her.
However, he declined to guarantee she would still be in post at the time of the next election when directly asked.
It comes amid a widely criticised trip by the Chancellor to China which coincided with turmoil in the bond market sending UK borrowing costs soaring, putting the government’s fiscal rules and public spending plans in jeopardy.
“I’m confident, completely confident in my team,” he insisted, when asked to guarantee Rachel Reeves would be Chancellor until the next election.
But asked again if he had confidence in the Chancellor, and whether she would remain in post until the next election, Sir Keir said: “Rachel Reeves is doing a fantastic job.
“She has my full confidence. She has the full confidence of the entire party.”
Defending the government’s approach to the public finances, Starmer insisted: “We’re going to stick to the fiscal rules. That is a very important thing that we’ve said throughout.
“We set out those fiscal rules very early on in the day because we knew that the missing ingredient in recent years has been economic stability, we’re determined to bring about that economic stability, and that’s why the fiscal rules are absolutely central to what we do.”
And he said changes to planning rules, the industrial strategy and embracing AI would fuel growth.
“That is why I’m confident in our mission for growth,” he added.
But, he admitted: “We never pretended, nor would anybody sensibly argue, that after 14 years of failure, you can turn around our economy and our public services before Christmas.
“Before the election, I said it’s not going to be possible to do this in six months. It’s going to take time.”
Starmer argued Reeves was “absolutely right” to take a firm approach to public spending, when quizzed on reports the Treasury asked departments for “ruthless” plans for cuts.
The Prime Minister told reporters after announcing his AI opportunities plan: “Yes, we will be ruthless, as we have been ruthless in the decisions that we’ve taken so far.
“We have got clear fiscal rules, and we are going to keep to those fiscal rules, and that’s why the Chancellor was absolutely right in the words that she chose to describe the approach that we will take.”
Shadow Treasury minister Gareth Davies said: “Labour are trying to insist that everything is fine, but the fact that Keir Starmer has repeatedly refused to say whether Rachel Reeves will remain as Chancellor speaks volumes.”
He added: “The Prime Minister is looking for a scapegoat but this crisis was made in Downing Street by Rachel Reeves.
“The markets and businesses are watching, Labour promised stability and confidence but they have lost control. They must take action to reverse before this gets worse for families.”