Rachel Reeves is being warned she could become ‘Reshuffle Rachel’ as she faces claims she was subject to an expenses probe while working in banking.
The Chancellor was reported by the BBC to have been subject to an internal investigation into expenses while working at Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS).
Ms Reeves worked at the retail bank between 2006 and 2009 and the allegations have heaped pressure on her position as head of the Treasury.
According to Sky News, MPs are once again questioning whether the Chancellor will survive Sir Keir Starmer’s first big Cabinet reshuffle.
It follows speculation that the PM is planning a shake-up of his top team in late Spring or early Summer, although No10 sources have dismissed such reports as ‘nonsense’.
Ms Reeves has previously faced questions about her position following anger at her cuts to pensioners’ winter fuel payments and a backlash to her tax-raising Budget.
Her stewardship of the UK economy has also come under scrutiny amid sluggish growth figures.
A Cabinet ally of Ms Reeves this morning came out fighting on the Chancellor’s behalf and blasted the BBC’s ‘totally inaccurate’ reporting about her banking career.
Science Secretary Peter Kyle mounted a robust defence of Ms Reeves in a round of TV and radio interviews.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Chancellor has claimed she was not aware of an expenses probe.
And a human resources manager who worked at HBOS at the same time as Ms Reeves said she had not been made aware of such an investigation taking place.
Asked about the claims, Mr Kyle told BBC Radio 4’s Today: ‘Unfortunately, the reporting has been totally inaccurate.
‘And we heard yesterday that the person who was actually head of HR at that bank at that time says it’s untrue, said that she never, ever receive a file on Rachel Reeves.’
Mr Kyle was told that HBOS did not say there was no investigation, but that one had not been completed before the HR manager, Jane Wayper, had left the bank.
He responded: ‘And she says that before she left the bank, there was no investigation that passed her desk.
‘And she’s also said if there was one, it would have passed her desk. I didn’t see any of that reporting included in the story I read yesterday evening on the BBC website.’
In a statement – which the BBC included in its initial reporting – Ms Wayper said she ‘would have been made aware of any investigation which concluded there was a case to answer’.
The HR manager, who left HBOS in 2008 according to her LinkedIn page, said she would have been required to organise a disciplinary process, which ‘did not happen’.
The accuracy of Ms Reeves’ profile on the business social media site LinkedIn was also called into question by the BBC’s reporting.
Ms Reeves has updated her job history on the professional networking site to reflect she worked at HBOS for longer than she had previously said.
The Chancellor’s page had previously suggested her stint at the Bank of England, which she has previously referenced to reinforce her credentials, lasted months longer than it now says.
A member of the Chancellor’s team set up her LinkedIn profile and was responsible for errors in it, Mr Kyle said, as he appeared on BBC Breakfast.
He added: ‘But what you’ve seen with Rachel is a Chancellor who is an economist by training and by practice, and she’s brought that experience into Government, and judge her on actions and not just words.’
The PM has given his backing to Ms Reeves as she faces questions about the CV and expenses investigation.
Sir Keir yesterday said the Chancellor had ‘dealt with any issues that arise’ from the claims, and Downing Street insisted she could be trusted.
David Sorensen, a lawyer who acted for the Chancellor as she left HBOS, said she was not subject to ‘allegations of wrongdoing or misconduct’ during her career at the bank.
He was responsible for overseeing ‘a standard-style agreement adopted by the company when a mutually agreed exit was made during the bank’s restructure’.