Reeves grilled on China trip as Tories say market turmoil a ‘crisis made in Downing Street’: Live

Questions have been raised over whether the Conservative Party’s shadow housing secretary can take part in Tuesday’s Renters Reform Bill debate because he has a financial interest in the issue.

Kevin Hollinrake, who shadows Angela Rayner in her departmental role, is set to lead the Tory charge against the legislation.

But the Tory MP holds shares in an estate agency franchising group that lobbied regulators and government bodies on “regulatory reforms including the [Conservative Government’s] Renters Reform Bill”, while outlining the risk to the company’s business of “an ever-growing list of regulations”.

The House of Commons register of financial interests shows that Mr Hollinrake, the MP for Thirsk and Malton, has shareholdings valued at more than £70,000 in the Property Franchise Group plc.

Our political editor David Maddox reports:

Rachel Reeves has said that the government worked closely with the Bank of England to ensure the country’s economy remains competitive.

Asked by Tory MP Sir Gavin Williamson whether she had spoken to Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey about what actions to take to improve financial stability, Ms Reeves said the pair spoke regularly:

“Indeed, he was on the delegation to China with me this weekend, and we work closely together to ensure that the British economy remains competitive in global markets,” the chancellor told MPs.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves told MPs to “get real” if they were blaming the government for global volatility in markets that has saw the cost of borrowing rise last week.

The chancellor was asked by Conservative MP Dr Luke Evans what she would say to financial markets to reassure them, as he suggested that the “fundamental issue” behind the recent turmoil was that “the markets don’t believe her plan for growth”.

She said: “There’s been a global volatility in markets. I don’t believe it reasonable to suggest that the reason why bond yields in the United States, in Germany and France have risen is because of decisions made by this government. I think the honourable member opposite should just get real.”

In a somewhat bizarre intervention, Tory MP Esther McVey asked Rachel Reeves: “Did the Communist Party of China tell the chancellor she was doing a good job running the UK economy or a bad job running the UK economy when she was there?”

Ms Reeves replied: “I wasn’t seeking assurance from any foreign government of the performance of this government.”

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has refused to rule out future spending cuts when pressed to do by SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn.

Ms Reeves told MPs: “I’m not going to write five years worth of budgets in the first six months of a Labour Government.

“But I’m absolutely committed to meeting the fiscal rules that I set out in the budget in October, because we know what happens when governments lose control of the public finances, and that is they crash the economy, and end up on that side of the House.”

Conservative former leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith asked whether the government will allow import of goods “that contain any slave labour” from China.

Sir Iain, who is one of a number of MPs sanctioned by China, told the Commons: “The reality I want to put to her is that while she was away, [clothing company] Shein refused, point blank in a select committee to answer the question whether they had slave labour in their supply chains, but the Government wants them to register here in London.”

He added: “So can I ask the chancellor to be clear now to the House about the government’s position on slave labour?

“Can she explain whether this government will allow any products or services or companies to align themselves here or import goods into here that contain any slave labour, no matter how important that import is?”

Chancellor Rachel Reeves replied: “This government is committed to working with international partners and businesses to ensure that global supply chains are free from human and labour rights abuses.

“As [Sir Iain] knows, under Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, commercial businesses who operate in the UK and have a turnover of more than £36m are required to report annually on the steps they have taken, and quite right so because modern slavery is absolutely abhorrent and this government continues to take steps to deal with it.”

Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper told MPs: “Let’s be blunt, the budget hasn’t worked. The Chancellor says that the government’s number-one mission is growth but to date there are no signs that the government is going to deliver it.”

Ms Cooper described a rise to employer national insurance contributions as “self-defeating – it undermines growth, it does not unleash it, and it piles pressure onto struggling small businesses and high streets”.

She told MPs there was now a “much-lauded visit to China, but the government itself said it is only worth £600 million to the UK over the next five years”, adding: “This really is small beer.”

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has vowed to stick to her previously stated fiscal rules, as the rising cost of government borrowing threatens to eviscerate the £9bn of headroom left in her autumn Budget.

Labour MP Dame Meg Hillier told the Commons: “Listening to the shadow chancellor [Mel Stride], you would think that the country was going to hell in a handcart.

“And doesn’t she agree with me that there is no time for panic, that it is perfectly possible to manage any pressures on the budget through astute management of public spending? And that compared with the years of austerity on the last side, we are a very, very long way from that approach?”

Ms Reeves replied: “I set out the fiscal rules of this government at the budget in October – that we would pay for day-to-day spending through tax receipts and that we will get debt down as a share of the economy. We remain committed to those fiscal rules and we will meet them at all times.”

Watch live as Rachel Reeves answers questions in the House of Commons, after returning from a trip to China criticised by political opponents for coinciding with a week of volatility for the pound and soaring yields on UK bonds: