No 10 backs Reeves and says she 'is going nowhere' after tearful Commons appearance
Rachel Reeves has not offered her resignation and is "going nowhere", Downing Street has said, following her tearful appearance in the House of Commons.
A Number 10 spokesperson said the chancellor had the "full backing" of Sir Keir Starmer, despite Ms Reeves looking visibly upset during Prime Minister's Questions.
A spokesperson for the chancellor later clarified that Ms Reeves had been affected by a "personal matter" and would be working out of Downing Street this afternoon.
Politics latest: Reeves looks visibly upset in Commons
Downing Street's insistence came despite Sir Keir refusing to guarantee that Ms Reeves would stay as chancellor until the next election - following the fallout from the government's recent welfare U-turn.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch branded the chancellor the "human shield" for the prime minister's "incompetence" just hours after he was forced to perform a humiliating U-turn over his controversial welfare bill.
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Speaking at Prime Minister's Questions, Ms Badenoch said: "This man has forgotten that his welfare bill was there to plug a black hole created by the chancellor. Instead they're creating new ones. "
Turning to the chancellor, the Tory leader added: [She] is pointing at me - she looks absolutely miserable.
"Labour MPs are going on the record saying that the chancellor is toast, and the reality is that she is a human shield for his incompetence. In January, he said that she would be in post until the next election. Will she really?"
Not fully answering the question, the prime minister replied: "[Ms Badenoch] certainly won't.
"I have to say, I'm always cheered up when she asks me questions or responds to a statement because she always makes a complete mess of it and shows just how unserious and irrelevant they are."
Mrs Badenoch interjected: "How awful for the chancellor that he couldn't confirm that she would stay in place."
Sir Keir's refusal to guarantee the chancellor's position contrasts with earlier assurances from Pat McFadden, the chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, who told Sky News this morning that "of course" Ms Reeves would still be in post in six months' time.
The prime minister's watered-down Universal Credit and Personal Independent Payment Bill, aimed at saving £5.5bn, was backed by a majority of 75 in a tense vote on Tuesday evening.
A total of 49 Labour MPs voted against the bill - the largest rebellion in a prime minister's first year in office since 47 MPs voted against Tony Blair's Lone Parent benefit in 1997, according to Professor Phil Cowley from Queen Mary University.
In the end, the bill only passed after the government made even more concessions to rebel MPs, which altered the bill to such an extent that it became unrecognisable from the original version.
Ms Reeves has borne a lot of the criticism over the handling of the vote, with some MPs believing that her strict approach to fiscal rules has meant she has approached the ballooning welfare bill from the standpoint of trying to make savings, rather than getting people into work.
To add to the chancellor's problems, experts have now warned that the welfare U-turn, on top of reversing the cut to winter fuel, means that tax rises in the autumn are more likely.