Reeves rescued by the City

After the prime minister's tepid backing, it was left to the markets to rally to the chancellor's aid, writes James Moore

- James Moore

The markets have delivered their verdict. They want Rachel Reeves, and no one else will do. If the chancellor needed saving, they've done the job, boosting her political clout in the process.

The events of the past 24 hours have been quite remarkable, almost on a level with the Truss mini-Budget, when the City's appalled reaction resulted in the near collapse of several big pension funds, and ultimately led to the end of a premiership before a now-infamous lettuce had rotted. The tearful expression on the face of a visibly upset Reeves, and a less-than-ringing endorsement from a prime minister who had previously said she would be in place for the full parliament, triggered a panic, with some of the biggest movements in UK government bond prices recorded since the “Trussterfuck” Budget.

They were swiftly relocated to the bargain bin, while the pound was confronted by a sea of red on dealers’ screens. Lower bond prices mean higher yields - or interest rates - making it more expensive for the government to service the national debt. Some estimates put the cost of the moves at close to £2bn annually in the absence of a recovery.

Reeves’s tears might thus be the most expensive in history. Consider that the producers of Gravity paid Sandra Bullock an estimated $70m (£51m) for hers. The chancellor’s were nearly 40 times as costly prior to this morning’s recovery. Doubtless, the Bank of England will have put in a call to ask what on earth was going on.