With blood in the water, Reeves still swims to safety

Imagine watching Jaws, hearing the music rev up as the camera surges through the water and waiting for the great white shark to emerge. Except that instead of a killing machine, a harmless chunk of driftwood bobs up from the depths.

- JOE MURPHY

It was a bit like that in the Commons as Rachel Reeves arrived to “face the music” for turmoil in the bond market. Blood was in the water … but would there be a bloodbath?

A quick recap: the chancellor flew back from China on Monday with bags under her eyes so big that EasyJet would have made her check them in. Labour MPs had been briefing the Sunday papers that her job was at risk and, unhelpfully, the PM publicly failed to guarantee her future.

Just after 1pm, Reeves, looking serious and even chastened, slipped onto the front bench. She was flanked by two of the cabinet members being quoted in the bookies as potential successors: her deputy Darren Jones (6/10) and business secretary Jonathan Reynolds (4/1). Fellow Blairite Liz Kendall was there, as was deputy PM and chief left winger Angela Rayner.

The official purpose of Reeves’s statement was to update MPs on her visit to Beijing. Not even she could muster much swagger for the £600m of deals (over five years) she brought home, describing them with sensible moderation as “tangible benefits”.

Sharks, it is said, are attracted by the splashing of an injured fish. So it was time for a maneater to finish her off. Shadow chancellor Mel Stride climbed to his feet. Cue the music.