Western Mail Chancellor running out of wriggle room

IF THE welfare reform vote in the Commons on Tuesday felt chaotic, then yesterday's Prime Minister's Questions felt brutal.

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In a charged atmosphere, the Chancellor appeared to be in tears as the Prime Minister stood next to her declining to give her a public show of support.

Later Downing Street insisted Rachel Reeves was "going nowhere" and had Sir Keir Starmer's full backing as allies said she was dealing with a "personal matter".

But it may be an all-too-stark visible indicator of the political pressure the Chancellor now finds herself increasingly under - a pressure that can only mount as the autumn Budget approaches unless she finds deft levers to pull.

At the spring statement to Parliament on March 26, she left herself £10bn worth of headroom against meeting her chosen borrowing rules - tight even then.