By Rachael Burford
Rachel Reeves was seen laughing and smiling as she appeared in public with the Prime Minister a day after breaking down in tears in the Commons.
The Chancellor joined Sir Keir Starmer and Health Secretary Wes Streeting at the launch of the Government’s 10-year NHS plan in east London on Thursday morning.
The Labour ministers put on a united front, with Ms Reeves telling Mr Streeting 鈥済ood luck in Parliament鈥 after he introduced her in front of the crowd in Stratford.
The public show of unity came after Sir Keir gave his full backing to his Chancellor and denied that her public appearance was a bid to calm the markets after the pound slumped amid speculation about her future.
See also: A year that ends in tears 鈥 Rachel Reeves’s time in number 11
Sir Keir said: 鈥淚’m trying not to stand here and speak for the Chancellor, but as she’s made clear on a number of occasions, yesterday was a personal issue, and I’m certainly not going to say anything more about that.
“I think it’s just fantastic she’s here and, as I say, none of this would be happening if she hadn’t taken the decisions that she’s taken.
“So she took those decisions, and she would take them for many years to come.”
He said he did not appreciate how upset she was when sat next to him at Prime Minister鈥檚 Questions on Wednesday because he had been focused on his answers.
Ms Reeves did not address the events in the Commons directly.
She said: 鈥淥ur 10-year plan will get our NHS back on its feet and make it fit for the future, led by our fantastic NHS staff and a huge thank you to every single one of you.鈥
She added: 鈥淚 want to be clear, we are spending money on taxpayers’ priorities, but that wouldn’t have been possible without measures that we took in the budget last year. We fixed the foundations and we put our economy back on a strong footing.
鈥淥ur commitment to the fiscal rules has meant that we can boost investment in our public services.鈥