Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride has accused Rachel Reeves of going into hiding as sterling sinks and UK borrowing costs surge.
Speaking in the House of Commons after being granted an urgent question, Stride asked: “Where is the Chancellor?”
Stride added that it was a “bitter regret” that the Chancellor was “nowhere to be seen” as the premium on UK borrowing costs compared to German bonds reached its highest level since 1990.
The surge in borrowing costs resulted in 30-year gilt yields hitting levels not seen since 1998 and 10-year gilt yields spiking to a post-2008 peak.
The pound has also tumbled against the dollar as a result of the market turmoil, falling from a summer high of $1.34 to a 15-month low of $1.23.
Reeves did not appear in the House of Commons to address the Shadow Chancellor’s urgent question herself, instead putting up Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones.
Jones insisted that the markets continue to “function in an orderly way”
However, Stride warned Jones that Labour risks “breaching its fiscal rules” in Reeves’s upcoming financial statement in March.
Jones insisted the Government’s fiscal rules are “non-negotiable”, warning that public services will have to “live within their means”.
He also took aim at the Tories over the economic legacy of recent Governments, adding: “They could not make the numbers add up. They’ve stacked up the country’s credit card. They’ve left it to this party to deal with, and we are going to deal with it.”