British finance minister Rachel Reeves said yesterday that she was determined to get on with her job despite its tough moments, a day after she appeared in tears in parliament, sparking fears about her future in the job and triggering a market selloff.
Smiling and looking relaxed, Reeves appeared alongside Prime Minister Keir Starmer and spoke briefly at an event to launch the government’s plans for the state-run health service, before addressing Wednesday’s events in a media clip.
“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,” Reeves said, adding being finance minister was “tough” but she was “totally” up for the job.
“People saw I was upset, but that was yesterday, and today is a new day, and I’m just cracking on with the job... This is the job that I’ve always wanted to do.”
Starmer gave his full support to Reeves after she was visibly upset during a prime ministerial question session in parliament.
Reeves’ tearful appearance came after a bruising week for the government when it was forced to abandon key planks of planned welfare reform, which blew a hole in her budget plans and threatened to undermine her fiscal rules.
British borrowing costs rose and the pound fell as the weekly question-and-answer session unfolded on TV, with market analysts saying the moves reflected concern that Reeves could be replaced and the government thrown into further turmoil.
In her appearance yesterday, Reeves restated that the government had fixed the foundations of the economy and credited Starmer with their election win one year ago, and told reporters she was “proud of what I’ve delivered”.
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