Welfare reform isn't going away at the moment

In a human sense, it was impossible to watch Rachel Reeves fighting back the tears as she sat, as usual, next to her friend and ally Sir Keir Starmer during Prime Minister's Questions, and not to feel for her. Nonetheless, and with the best will in the world to her personally, there are some legitimate questions that arise from the welfare bill fiasco, in which she has played a key role.

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One of those questions, thrown at Sir Keir by Kemi Badenoch, is whether he will keep his chancellor in place for “many years to come”, as he said he would in January. Sir Keir, for whatever reason, declined to confirm that, which must have dented Ms Reeves's confidence; certainly, it didn't help the markets, which saw borrowing costs rise, gilt yields spike and the pound plunge amid speculation over the chancellor's future.

Of course, Sir Keir should never have made such a remark in the first place, as prime ministers shouldn't limit any of their personnel options, but his reluctance to repeat it at the despatch box was deafening, according to the Independent.