2 h. ago Is it embarrassing if a politician cries in public, or does it make them seem more human?

The Chancellor Rachel Reeves was seen crying in the Commons during PMQs this week

Politics

5 h. ago Readers’ letters: Labour rebels were elected with a welfare reform mandate

A reader says Rachel Reeves’ tears would be understandable if they were about Labour rebels wrecking her work to reform the benefits system

Politics

10 h. ago Reeves refuses to rule out tax rises after ‘damaging’ welfare bill U

Original welfare proposals had been part of a package expected to save up to £5 billion a year

Economics

11 h. ago Raising a big tax is Rachel Reeves' only way of balancing the books to fill fiscal black hole, experts warn

It came as a damning new poll by YouGov showed that three-quarters of Britons believe Ms Reeves will smash Labour's vow by putting up one of the UK's main taxes.

Events

13 h. ago Reeves says welfare fallout ‘damaging’ and declines to rule out tax hikes

The Chancellor warned there would be ‘costs to what happened’ as she faced questions about how she would cover the shortfall left by concessions.

Economics

15 h. ago Rachel Reeves says she cannot rule out autumn tax rises after ‘damaging’ week

Exclusive: Chancellor says she never considered resigning and warns ‘there are costs’ to welfare bill U-turnRachel Reeves has said it is impossible for her to rule out tax rises in the autumn budget and insisted she never thought about quitting despite a turbulent week for her and the government.In an interview with the Guardian, the chancellor said “there are costs” to the watering down of the welfare bill and acknowledged it had been a “damaging” week for Downing Street. Continue reading...

Politics

17 h. ago If there's anyone we don't need lecturing us to 'be kind' it is MPs supporting government moves to drive the disabled into poverty

Justified sympathy for Chancellor Rachel Reeves should not forget the government is pushing policy set to leave ordinary peoples' lives in pieces

Politics

20 h. ago Jeremy Corbyn says ‘discussions are ongoing’ after Zarah Sultana claimed she would ‘co

Sultana announced on Thursday she was quitting Labour to join Jeremy Corbyn’s Independent AllianceMy colleague Lauren Almeida, who is running the Guardian’s business live blog, has shared the following:Rachel Reeves has not given herself enough fiscal headroom to manage public finances, Charlie Bean, the former deputy of the Bank of England has said, and has to “neurotically fine tune taxes”.About £10bn – that’s a very small number in the context of overall public spending. Government spending is about one and a quarter trillion so £10bn is a small number and it is a small number in the context of typical forecasting errors.You can’t forecast the future perfectly both because you can’t forecast the economy and you can’t forecast all the elements of public finances . The forecasts are imprecise and there is no way you can avoid that. That is a fact of life.In light of reports of atrocities committed by the Israeli government in Gaza and reports of the UK’s collaboration with Israeli ...

Politics

21 h. ago Crying in the Commons: why are women’s workplace tears a source of shame?

Rachel Reeves’s distress may help destigmatise an emotional response to pressure or professional frustrationRachel Reeves’s tears this week triggered a fall in the pound and attracted widespread derision from political columnists, mostly male. “What is wrong with Rachel Reeves?” the Telegraph asked. In an article headlined “The meaning of the chancellor’s tears”, a New Statesman columnist told readers that Reeves’s authority was “beginning to melt away”. The Daily Mail spoke disdainfully of her “waterworks”.But in the longer term the chancellor’s display of distress may prove to have an unexpectedly positive legacy, helpfully normalising a still hugely stigmatised phenomenon: women’s tears in the workplace. Continue reading...

Politics

22 h. ago Home secretary rejects Zarah Sultana’s claim Labour failing to improve lives – UK politics live

Sultana announced on Thursday she was quitting Labour to join Jeremy Corbyn’s Independent AllianceMy colleague Lauren Almeida, who is running the Guardian’s business live blog, has shared the following:Rachel Reeves has not given herself enough fiscal headroom to manage public finances, Charlie Bean, the former deputy of the Bank of England has said, and has to “neurotically fine tune taxes”.About £10bn – that’s a very small number in the context of overall public spending. Government spending is about one and a quarter trillion so £10bn is a small number and it is a small number in the context of typical forecasting errors.You can’t forecast the future perfectly both because you can’t forecast the economy and you can’t forecast all the elements of public finances . The forecasts are imprecise and there is no way you can avoid that. That is a fact of life.In light of reports of atrocities committed by the Israeli government in Gaza and reports of the UK’s collaboration with Israeli ...

Society

25 h. ago Can Starmer and Reeves hold the Labour Party together? Ask John Rentoul anything

The Independent’s chief political commentator, John Rentoul, is here to answer your questions as Labour grapples with a welfare reform crisis, mounting pressure on Keir Starmer’s leadership, and growing doubts over Rachel Reeves’s position

Society

27 h. ago Keir Starmer says he understands what ‘anchors’ Donald Trump

The Prime Minister said it was ‘in the national interest’ for him to have a connection with the US president.

Politics

27 h. ago One year of Labour: City's patience fades as bond market signals damning verdict

Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves launched a City charm offensive in the wake of their victory, hoping to persuade businesses and investors to back their economic strategy.

Politics

28 h. ago Who’s really to blame for Labour’s troubles – Rachel Reeves or the invisible PM? | Gaby Hinsliff

The Treasury focuses on numbers when what’s needed is vision. The party and the country are crying out for leadership, but it’s nowhere to be seenShe is not the first chancellor to cry in public, and may not be the last. But Rachel Reeves is the first whose tears have moved markets. No sooner had the realisation dawned that she was silently weeping – over a personal sorrow she won’t be pushed into revealing, she insisted later, not a political one – as she sat beside Keir Starmer at Wednesday’s prime minister’s questions, than the pound was dropping and the cost of borrowing rising. The bond traders who forced out Liz Truss’s hapless chancellor still clearly rate her judgment and want her to stay, even if (perhaps especially if) some Labour MPs don’t. Yet it is an extraordinary thing to live with the knowledge that a moment’s uncontrolled emotion can drive up the cost of a nation’s mortgages, just as a misjudged stroke of the budget pen can destroy lives.The most striking thing abou...

Events

37 h. ago Rachel Reeves gets a 1 out of 10 for first year in office, says top entrepreneur

Rachel Reeves will mark her first year in office as Chancellor on Saturday

Politics

39 h. ago QUENTIN LETTS: Rachel Reeves resembled a sad, startled owlet. Heaven knows how this can be sustained...

All hail the embalmer's art. Labour spinners, in emergency reconstruction mode, paraded a remodelled Rachel Reeves at a London health-centre event.

Politics

39 h. ago House votes on Trump’s sweeping tax bill after Democratic leader delivers record

House speaker Mike Johnson calls final vote after Hakeem Jeffries held floor for more than eight hours in an effort to stall Republicans from passing Trump’s tax billWhat’s in Trump’s major tax bill?Jeffries breaks House floor speech recordJeffries has just passed the five-hour mark and has no intention of stopping: “We still got some ground to cover.”“We are going to continue as Democrats to take our sweet time on behalf of the American people because the issues are too significant to ever walk away from,” Jeffries said, to cheers from the Democrats in the chamber. Continue reading...

Politics

40 h. ago Democratic leader holds House floor for over eight hours to delay Republican

Hakeem Jeffries delays final vote after Republican-controlled House advanced Trump’s sweeping tax bill in a late-night procedural voteWhy is Jeffries speaking for hours on the House floor?What’s in Trump’s major tax bill?Jeffries has just passed the five-hour mark and has no intention of stopping: “We still got some ground to cover.”“We are going to continue as Democrats to take our sweet time on behalf of the American people because the issues are too significant to ever walk away from,” Jeffries said, to cheers from the Democrats in the chamber. Continue reading...

Politics

40 h. ago Government still reforming ‘utterly broken’ welfare system – Murray

The Scottish Secretary said the Government is still on a ‘journey’ of welfare reform.

Politics

40 h. ago Rachel Reeves insists she’s ‘cracking on with the job’ as she hugs Starmer after Commons tears

The prime minister and chancellor shared a hug as they moved to calm the markets after a tumultuous week which saw tears in the Commons during PMQs

Politics