The Chancellor has insisted she is going nowhere

Rachel Reeves has issued a statement insisting that the scenes of her crying at PMQs had nothing to do with last night’s political chaos, or rumours of her pending departure from the Treasury. A spokesman for Ms Reeves has just told journalists that the reason for her emotional state “is a personal matter, which – as you would expect – we are not going to get into.”

They insisted that she had not offered her resignation to the Prime Minister this morning, adding: “The Chancellor will be working out of Downing Street this afternoon.” A minister suggested that Ms Reeves was crying because of an alleged “altercation” with the Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle. Reports have suggested that he apologised to her. The astonishing scenes came after her planned welfare cuts were brutally torn up by the PM late last night, in a final concession to get his flagship welfare bill through the Commons. However the move left Ms Reeves’ financial credibility in tatters as she will now be forced to find billions in cuts or – more likely – tax rises in her October Budget.

Rachel Reeves was seen crying during PMQs (Image: Parliament Live)

At a post-PMQs briefing, Downing Street spokesmen sent rumours flying after they failed to deny that Rachel Reeves offered her resignation this morning.

Fielding questions from journalists after the astonishing Prime Minister’s Questions, a spokesman for Sir Keir refused to say anything about the Chancellor.

They failed to deny one suggestion that Ms Reeves offered her resignation this morning, referring journalists to Ms Reeves’ office.

The spokesman also refused to clarify whether the Prime Minister had spoken with the Chancellor this morning, or what the financial market were supposed to make of Ms Reeves’ emotional appearance at PMQs.

Eventually they said that the Chancellor “is going nowhere”.

At Prime Minister’s Questions, Sir Keir notably failed to guarantee that Ms Reeves will keep her job moving forward.

Speaking at PMQs, Kemi Badenoch said: “She looks absolutely miserable! She looks absolutely miserable. Labour MPs are going on the record to say that the Chancellor is toast, and the reality is she is a human shield for his incompetence.”

“In January he said she would be in post until the next election, will she really?”

The Prime Minister completely dodged the question, hitting back that Ms Badenoch “certainly won’t”.

Ms Badenoch picked up on this, noting: “How awful for the Chancellor that he couldn’t confirm that she will stay in place.”

Following PMQs the Tory leader said: “Today the Prime Minister refused to back his Chancellor, leaving her humiliated. She is the human shield for his expensive u-turns.”

“How can anyone be a chancellor for a man who doesn’t know what he believes and who changes his mind every other minute.”

Departing the chamber after PMQs, Ms Reeves’s sister Ellie, also an MP, was seen squeezing her hand.

The pound appeared to take a substantial knock as Ms Reeves’ future looked precarious. Sterling’s dropped 0.7% this morning while the 30-year yield on gilts is up over 15 points.

The gilt jump – the cost of buying government debt, which often rises when the economic outlook appears more precarious – is the largest since April.