Speaker Lindsay Hoyle issues blunt 2-word statement on Rachel Reeves crying rumour

The Commons Speaker has declined to comment on reports he was involved in an altercation with Rachel Reeves before her tearful appearance at PMQs. A spokeswoman for Sir Lindsay Hoyle said "no comment" when asked about the claims.

The Chancellor was visibly tearful in the Commons as Sir Keir Starmer faced his weekly grilling. But allies said she was dealing with a "personal matter" and No 10 said she had Sir Keir's "full backing".

Ms Reeves's position has come under intense scrutiny after the Government's welfare U-turn to quell a Labour rebellion which put an almost £5 billion black hole in her plans.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said the Chancellor looked "absolutely miserable" and challenged the Prime Minister to say whether she would keep her job until the next election.

Sir Keir dodged the question about whether Ms Reeves would be in place for the remainder of the Parliament, saying Mrs Badenoch "certainly won't".

Mrs Badenoch 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?"

As the Chancellor left the Commons after PMQ's her sister, Ellie Reeves, took her hand in an apparent show of support.

Asked about her tears, a spokesman for the Chancellor said: "It's a personal matter which, as you would expect, we are not going to get into.

"The Chancellor will be working out of Downing Street this afternoon."

Asked why Sir Keir did not confirm in the Commons that he still had faith in Ms Reeves, the Prime Minister's press secretary told reporters: "He has done so repeatedly.

"The Chancellor is going nowhere. She has the Prime Minister's full backing.

"He has said it plenty of times, he doesn't need to repeat it every time the Leader of the Opposition speculates about Labour politicians."