Rachel Reeves speaks out on crying during PMQs – ‘I’m not going to apologise’ | Politics | News
Rachel Reeves says she won’t apologize for crying at Prime Minister’s Questions. The Chancellor was reduced to tears during PMQs in the House of Commons last July when Sir Keir Starmer refused to guarantee he would remain in office until the next general election.
Ms Reeves later insisted she was sorry for personal reasons, and Downing Street announced hours later that she had the Prime Minister’s “full support” and was “not going anywhere”. She has now spoken about the incident in a Q&A on the Mumsnet website.
Mumsnet founder Justine Roberts posed a series of questions to the Chancellor; one of which read: “Hi Rachel, you were photographed crying at PMQs last year and this must have been a stressful time for you.
“Do you now regret this incident, or do you think people should be judged less for often showing understandable emotions in the workplace?”
Ms Reeves said: “I regret going to PMQs but you know, if I had known this was going to happen of course I wouldn’t have gone.
“I expect most of your Mumsnet users have had a day at work where they have been overcome with emotion for one reason or another.
“I think what’s different about my job is that the TV cameras are on when it happens. So I’m not going to apologize for crying. I don’t think people should do that.”
“But I think next time I want to do this I’ll stay in the office.”
Ms Roberts then asked: “Are you lying awake at night kicking yourself for leaving?”
Ms Reeves laughed and replied: “I’ve got enough to worry about right now; there’s conflict in the Middle East rather than photos of me looking a little sad.”
