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to believe Rachel Reeves was crying because

817 replies

LargeDeviation · 02/07/2025 19:44

  1. she was upset when Lindsay Hoyle told her to keep her answers short

  2. she had an argument with Keir Starmer (possibly about her keeping her job, or about how to handle the inevitable questions about the new £5.5bn per annum black hole) just before PMQs

  3. Keir Starmer refused to say she would keep her job in front of the whole country. If he genuinely wanted her to stay, he would just say 'of course she's going to still be Chancellor' and that would be that.

  4. she is under immense pressure because she knows she will have soon to breach her fiscal rules, she knows she is responsible for many of the decisions that will lead to that, and she knows the how serious the consequences of her failure will be. We have seen recently (even just today) how vicious the bond market can be.

In short, I believe she was crying because of professional pressures (understandable ones, though largely of her own making, and about which I have little sympathy) and not nebulous 'personal' reasons.

If her parent or partner or child or grandparent or pet is ill the natural thing is to just say 'sorry, a close relative is in hospital and my emotions got the better of me'. Everybody would understand. You don't need huge reams of evidence but you need to give the bare bones of an explanation. She is trying to style it out but we can all see through it.

I will apologise if I'm wrong but long experience shows that 'personal reasons' almost always means 'I'm skiving or jobhunting' when a colleague in the workplace uses it to excuse their time off.

I believe it means even less when uttered by a politican.

OP posts:
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Allisnotlost1 · 08/07/2025 19:34

MyNameIsX · 08/07/2025 15:37

Britain’s public finances are in a “vulnerable” position, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has warned, with the cost of the pension triple lock to balloon by as much as £15bn a year.

The fiscal watchdog said Rachel Reeves’s financial buffer to meet her already-loose borrowing rules was wafer-thin, with the UK extremely vulnerable to economic shocks.

The Chancellor is under pressure to bring down Britain’s ballooning debt pile, with speculation mounting about tax rises and spending cuts in the autumn.

The UK’s long-term borrowing costs surged following the bleak OBR prognosis, jumping by the most of any major European economy and breaching the levels reached when Ms Reeves cried in the House of Commons last week.

It’s the Telegraph so no surprise they’ve massaged what the OBR actually said, which is that the UK is in a ‘relatively vulnerable’ position. And while the fiscal rules are part of the explanation for high debt levels, the OBR points to loosening of these since 2010. I don’t think the current Chancellor can be blamed for all of this.

Backtracking and fiscal promises have added to the problem but the actual speech also pointed out that a lot of the risk stems from structural changes like the ageing population - and previous shocks - pandemic, gas prices. The ‘good news’ is that life expectancy has declined so plenty of us (well, mostly the men) won’t be claiming their pension.

Vinvertebrate · 08/07/2025 18:50

CheekyFish · 08/07/2025 16:37

I wonder who is going to get scapegoated for this?8 year old prep school kids, farmers, pensioners, business owners, additional rate tax payers or is there another enemy of the people lurking out there?

They’re coming for the SEND children next. God forbid that a disabled child has a right to an education.

I am not a bleeding heart liberal who thinks that benefit fraud does not exist, or is negligible, or should be ignored. But I’m pretty sure that there are not legions of autistic kids swinging the lead in their EHCP’s.

Awwlookatmybabyspider · 08/07/2025 16:50

They’re starting on SEND kids now. Is there any depths that these won’t sink to.

CheekyFish · 08/07/2025 16:43

EasternStandard · 08/07/2025 16:41

People really went with this didn’t they. Who’s left

I hope I’m not right in this, but I suspect it’s going to be homeowners,

EasternStandard · 08/07/2025 16:41

CheekyFish · 08/07/2025 16:37

I wonder who is going to get scapegoated for this?8 year old prep school kids, farmers, pensioners, business owners, additional rate tax payers or is there another enemy of the people lurking out there?

People really went with this didn’t they. Who’s left

CheekyFish · 08/07/2025 16:37

MyNameIsX · 08/07/2025 15:50

100%.

It’s going to get bumpy…

I wonder who is going to get scapegoated for this?8 year old prep school kids, farmers, pensioners, business owners, additional rate tax payers or is there another enemy of the people lurking out there?

MyNameIsX · 08/07/2025 15:52

Allisnotlost1 · 08/07/2025 11:26

Surely it’s no more or less patronising than some posters’ insistence on nicknames or insults for people they don’t agree with? I might have missed it but I don’t remember you calling that out.

I will happily call that out, too.

MyNameIsX · 08/07/2025 15:50

Bluebellwood129 · 08/07/2025 15:43

Nothing there is a surprise to anyone except Rachel Reeves. Perhaps people will now understand why the markets reacted the way they did last week to her ridiculous performance instead of claiming it was a 'vote of confidence' in her.

Edited

100%.

It’s going to get bumpy…

Bluebellwood129 · 08/07/2025 15:43

MyNameIsX · 08/07/2025 15:37

Britain’s public finances are in a “vulnerable” position, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has warned, with the cost of the pension triple lock to balloon by as much as £15bn a year.

The fiscal watchdog said Rachel Reeves’s financial buffer to meet her already-loose borrowing rules was wafer-thin, with the UK extremely vulnerable to economic shocks.

The Chancellor is under pressure to bring down Britain’s ballooning debt pile, with speculation mounting about tax rises and spending cuts in the autumn.

The UK’s long-term borrowing costs surged following the bleak OBR prognosis, jumping by the most of any major European economy and breaching the levels reached when Ms Reeves cried in the House of Commons last week.

Nothing there is a surprise to anyone except Rachel Reeves. Perhaps people will now understand why the markets reacted the way they did last week to her ridiculous performance instead of claiming it was a 'vote of confidence' in her.

MyNameIsX · 08/07/2025 15:37

Britain’s public finances are in a “vulnerable” position, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has warned, with the cost of the pension triple lock to balloon by as much as £15bn a year.

The fiscal watchdog said Rachel Reeves’s financial buffer to meet her already-loose borrowing rules was wafer-thin, with the UK extremely vulnerable to economic shocks.

The Chancellor is under pressure to bring down Britain’s ballooning debt pile, with speculation mounting about tax rises and spending cuts in the autumn.

The UK’s long-term borrowing costs surged following the bleak OBR prognosis, jumping by the most of any major European economy and breaching the levels reached when Ms Reeves cried in the House of Commons last week.

Allisnotlost1 · 08/07/2025 13:57

I think it’s more difficult to take seriously people who refer to ‘Rachel from Accounts’, or any of the other silly nicknames. It suggests a bias and a lack of ability to see nuance. Babes suggests neither of those things.

Julen7 · 08/07/2025 13:18

Of course it was 🙄

BIossomtoes · 08/07/2025 13:13

The you was generic. 🙄

Julen7 · 08/07/2025 13:13

BIossomtoes · 08/07/2025 13:11

Lots of people do. It’s not all about you.

But you were addressing your post to me.

BIossomtoes · 08/07/2025 13:11

Lots of people do. It’s not all about you.

Julen7 · 08/07/2025 13:09

BIossomtoes · 08/07/2025 13:07

The same goes for all the “clever” nicknames for politicians from parties you don’t like.

Have never used a clever nickname.

BIossomtoes · 08/07/2025 13:07

Julen7 · 08/07/2025 12:46

The trouble is if you use “babes” in your posts, especially on a political thread, it is hard to take anything you say seriously.

The same goes for all the “clever” nicknames for politicians from parties you don’t like.

Julen7 · 08/07/2025 12:46

Allisnotlost1 · 08/07/2025 11:26

Surely it’s no more or less patronising than some posters’ insistence on nicknames or insults for people they don’t agree with? I might have missed it but I don’t remember you calling that out.

The trouble is if you use “babes” in your posts, especially on a political thread, it is hard to take anything you say seriously.

Allisnotlost1 · 08/07/2025 11:26

MyNameIsX · 08/07/2025 08:46

So you do deploy ‘babes’ to get your own back.

It is patronising, and you use it for that reason.

Surely it’s no more or less patronising than some posters’ insistence on nicknames or insults for people they don’t agree with? I might have missed it but I don’t remember you calling that out.

CheekyFish · 08/07/2025 09:59

party4you · 08/07/2025 09:37

Except I didn’t write that.

Sure you didn’t babes x

party4you · 08/07/2025 09:39

party4you · 08/07/2025 09:37

Except I didn’t write that.

The reply was saying that carers should still earn enough to enjoy their lives. Sorry that I forgot everything is read literally and no one on mumsnet seems to have inference skills.

party4you · 08/07/2025 09:37

CheekyFish · 08/07/2025 09:05

After reading the posts, I think you are on a bit of a wind up. You wrote why would carers work if they don’t have the same lifestyle as Drs and then denied writing it when the PP directly responded to your post, along with some babes and kisses.

Except I didn’t write that.

Anonymouseposter · 08/07/2025 09:30

ThisOldThang · 06/07/2025 22:39

Socialism: The belief that forcibly taking somebody else's economic output for oneself is somehow virtuous, but a person wanting to keep it for themselves is selfish.

Socialism should be’ from each according to their ability, to each according to their need’. It doesn’t work if some people aren’t willing to put any effort in. It also doesn’t work if some people are greedy.

CheekyFish · 08/07/2025 09:05

party4you · 08/07/2025 08:50

Nope - like I said I use babes in my everyday language. Shocking that people speak differently to you, I know. Once you’re over that, like I already said, maybe think about how policing other people’s language is actually patronising. You’re creating an issue out of absolutely nothing 😂

After reading the posts, I think you are on a bit of a wind up. You wrote why would carers work if they don’t have the same lifestyle as Drs and then denied writing it when the PP directly responded to your post, along with some babes and kisses.

party4you · 08/07/2025 08:50

MyNameIsX · 08/07/2025 08:46

So you do deploy ‘babes’ to get your own back.

It is patronising, and you use it for that reason.

Nope - like I said I use babes in my everyday language. Shocking that people speak differently to you, I know. Once you’re over that, like I already said, maybe think about how policing other people’s language is actually patronising. You’re creating an issue out of absolutely nothing 😂

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