{"id":421622,"date":"2025-09-13T17:27:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-13T17:27:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/421622\/"},"modified":"2025-09-13T17:27:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T17:27:11","slug":"rachel-reeves-chancellor-in-name-only-and-keir-starmer-on-brink-politics-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/421622\/","title":{"rendered":"Rachel Reeves ‘Chancellor in name only’ and Keir Starmer ‘on brink’ | Politics | News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rachel Reeves<\/a> has been branded a \u201cChancellor in name only\u201d with Sir Keir Starmer<\/a> creating his own economic<\/a> team in Number 10 as he fights to end the chaos which has put his premiership in the \u201cdanger zone\u201d. Labour insiders say the Prime Minister has \u201clost confidence\u201d in Ms Reeves but cannot sack her after vowing she would be Chancellor \u201cfor a very long time to come\u201d. There is fear in Labour ranks the party is heading towards disaster in next year\u2019s Scottish<\/a>, Welsh<\/a> and local elections \u2013 with voters still appalled by the Chancellor\u2019s early decision to scrap winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners.<\/p>\n

A Labour MP claimed the situation was so serious Sir Keir could be gone by the end of the year, saying: \u201cI think Starmer is on the brink. I think it\u2019s very, very serious.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s one more mistake away from having to go. I think he is in the danger zone.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only hope of holding onto Wales or regaining power in Scotland is by changing him. He is that much of an electoral liability.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Government is reeling from the resignation of Angela Rayner<\/a> as Deputy Prime Minister and the sacking of New Labour giant Lord Mandelson as ambassador to the US. Confidence in the PM and his team took another blow when it emerged Downing Street officials were aware of supportive emails between Lord Mandelson and Jeffrey Epstein when Sir Keir defended the peer during Prime Minister\u2019s Questions.<\/p>\n

He is understood not to have known about the contents of the emails until Wednesday evening \u2013 after he told the Commons he had \u201cconfidence\u201d in Lord Mandelson during Prime Minister\u2019s Questions at midday.<\/p>\n

Backbench Labour MP Olivia Blake said it feels like Sir Keir Starmer<\/a>\u2019s operation has \u201cgone into the bunker\u201d. She told the BBC<\/a> it is \u201creally embarrassing\u201d if Sir Keir was told about the emails too late.<\/p>\n

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said: \u201cThe Prime Minister has very serious questions to answer. The only way to clear this up is full transparency about who knew what, and when.\u201d<\/p>\n

Writing in the Sunday Express, Shadow Foreign Secretary Priti Patel said: \u201cThis is not a serious or respectable Government at all. It lurches from chaos to crisis on a near weekly basis.<\/p>\n

\u201cIts ministers don\u2019t have the skills or the aptitude to deliver on policies required to build a successful economy and country for the future as they are all consumed with securing their positions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Sir Keir is determined to ensure Ms Reeves\u2019s Budget<\/a> statement on November 26 does not cause more damage<\/a> to his floundering Government.<\/p>\n

A former Labour frontbencher said: \u201cThere is a shadow treasury team run out of Number 10. That is where economic policy is being made.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe is the Chancellor in name only now.\u201d<\/p>\n

It follows Sir Keir\u2019s decision to bring his own economic experts into 10 Downing Street, with former Bank of England Deputy Governor Minouche Shafik appointed as his economic adviser and former senior Treasury official Daniel York-Smith as Principal Private Secretary. Former Treasury Minister Darren Jones, previously Ms Reeves\u2019s deputy in the Treasury, was given the newly-created role of Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister.<\/p>\n

Sir Keir has set up a so-called Budget Board to oversee Budget preparations, with weekly meetings to ensure the Chancellor cannot repeat the mistakes of previous announcements which increased National Insurance contributions for employers and ended winter fuel payments for swathes of pensioners. However, the Budget will need to include measures to plug a hole in the public finances which some estimates put at more than \u00a350billion.<\/p>\n

Board members include Treasury Minister Torsten Bell and Katie Martin, Ms Reeves\u2019s chief of staff, but the committee is packed with Number 10 figures including Ms Shafik, Mr Jones, Sir Keir\u2019s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, and his communications chief, Tim Allan.<\/p>\n

A Labour insider said: \u201cIt\u2019s a power grab by Number 10. He is centralising policy.\u201d<\/p>\n

They said the Prime Minister had also taken control of the whips office by handing the role of Chief Whip to Jonathan Reynolds, the former Business Secretary, who is the husband of Keir Starmer<\/a>\u2019s Political Director Claire Reynolds.<\/p>\n

Sir Keir was forced to promise not to sack Ms Reeves after she was seen crying during Questions to the Prime Minister in Parliament in July. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch asked whether the Chancellor\u2019s job was safe following a humiliating Government u-turn on benefit cuts, and the Prime Minister failed to give a clear answer.<\/p>\n

The next day, Ms Reeves and Sir Keir hugged in front of the cameras when they appeared at a press conference together, and Sir Keir pledged her job was safe in a BBC<\/a> interview.<\/p>\n

But Conservatives<\/a> accused the Prime Minister of \u201csidelining\u201d his Chancellor. Shadow Chancellor Sir Mel Stride said: \u201cKeir Starmer<\/a> is in panic mode. By building his own private Treasury team in Downing Street and taking Rachel Reeves<\/a>\u2019 number two, the Prime Minister is clearly sidelining his Chancellor.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo longer does Keir Starmer<\/a> trust Rachel Reeves<\/a> with the upcoming Budget having bungled her first year in charge. But sidelining her is not enough – he must also firmly reject her failed economic approach that has left Britain poorer.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrowth is down. Business confidence has plummeted. Inflation has doubled. Borrowing costs recently hit a 27-year high. Our national debt is ballooning and we are paying over \u00a3100billion a year just on the interest.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith yet more tax rises looming, it\u2019s clear: Britain can\u2019t afford Labour.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yvette Cooper, the newly appointed Foreign Secretary, said during a trip to Ukraine<\/a> the decision to sack Lord Mandelson was \u201crightly taken\u201d and she backed Sir Keir\u2019s \u201cstrong leadership\u201d. New Scotland Secretary Douglas Alexander told the Government was looking forward to moving on.<\/p>\n

Deputy Labour leadership candidate and Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson made a plea for unity, stating: \u201cWe cannot afford to go back to the days of a divided Labour Party, to re-open old wounds. Labour Members want hope for the future, not grievance and division.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Chancellor was hit by another hammer blow last week as new figures showed the economy flatlining in July.<\/p>\n

After a stronger-than-expected June, the Office for National Statistics revealed that GDP remained flat at 0.0% the following month.<\/p>\n

Economic advisory firm Oxford Economics warned further tax rises were likely in the Budget, even though this would damage economic growth. A report authored by Edward Allenby, the firm\u2019s UK Economist, said \u201cFurther tax rises look increasingly likely in the autumn. A combination of Government u-turns on welfare reforms and winter fuel payments for some pensioners, higher debt servicing costs, and the likely downward revisions to the Office for Budget Responsibility\u2019s optimistic potential growth forecasts, suggest the Chancellor will need to tighten policy by around \u00a330bn at her Budget on November 26.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee meets this week and could recommend a cut in interest rates<\/a>. But Matthew Ryan, Head of Market Strategy at global financial services firm Ebury, said: \u201cThere is almost no chance of another cut, despite the bleak economic outlook. UK inflation remains too high for comfort, and until officials have confidence that the 2% target is in sight, we think that they will be reluctant to lower rates any further.\u201d<\/p>\n

Employers also warn that Labour\u2019s new workers\u2019 rights laws will make it harder to employ staff.<\/p>\n

Tina McKenzie, Policy Chair of the Federation of Small Businesses, said: \u201cThe Employment Rights Bill threatens to be a real brake on growth if it is passed unamended.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whitehall is now rife with speculation about who will succeed Lord Mandelson as US ambassador.<\/p>\n

Last night diplomatic sources said that former British ambassador to the US Dame Karen Pierce would accept the call to return to Washington, if asked.<\/p>\n

Dame Karen was Britain\u2019s UN ambassador in New York when she was called upon to replace Kim Darroch in 2020 after he was recalled from his role as British ambassador.<\/p>\n

Since March this year she has been in Bosnia as the UK\u2019s Special Envoy to the Western Balkans, tasked with upporting and strengthening regional stability and to encourage intra-regional cooperation.<\/p>\n

And, with a spell as the FCO\u2019s head Deputy Head of Eastern Adriatic (Balkans) Department under her belt, sources say she has embraced the role.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe is dedicated to her mission \u2013 but would return to Washington\u2019s if asked,\u201d said a diplomatic source.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile it may be unusual for an ambassador to occupy the same post twice, there is precedent. And ultimately, it is completely within the gift of the PM. If he wants it, it happens.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever volatile the situation in the Balkans, the Washington Post is Britain\u2019s most important, diplomatically and there are many advantages to her return.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe is respected by Donald Trump<\/a> and, from her time in New York, knows Trump and knows how to deal with him. This is, of course, a massive consideration.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rachel Reeves has been branded a \u201cChancellor in name only\u201d with Sir Keir Starmer creating his own economic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":421623,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[1700,807,528,144192,12,28300,619,16,144193,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-421622","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uk","8":"category-united-kingdom","9":"tag-economy","10":"tag-keir-starmer","11":"tag-labour-party","12":"tag-labour-party-crisis","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-peter-mandelson","15":"tag-rachel-reeves","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-uk-economic-policy","18":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115198167883836823","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=421622"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421622\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/421623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=421622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=421622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=421622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}