Chancellor Rachel Reeves faced a seriously tough grilling on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, and things got tense fast. As the conversation turned to Labour’s controversial plans to cut benefits — including Personal Independence Payment (PIP) — viewers were left unimpressed, with many switching off and heading straight to social media to vent.
Right from the off, Laura Kuenssberg didn’t hold back. Pressing Reeves on Labour’s economic promises, she said: “You told people you wouldn’t have to make cuts because the economy was going to grow. The economy is stubbornly refusing to do what you’re trying to get it to do, and some of the decisions you’ve made – whacking up [National Insurance] payments for employers are costing businesses, they’re making it harder for them to prosper. And you are, are you not, going to have to announce cuts this week to some government departments?”, reported the Express.
Reeves tried to steer around the question, replying, “There will be real terms increases in government spending every year of this Parliament—” but Kuenssberg wasn’t having it. She interrupted again: “That’s the overall, can you confirm you’re going to have to make cuts to some government departments?”
Reeves repeated the government line, saying: “We’ll set out the spending settlements in June for every department, that’s the spending review—” before being cut off once more: “That’s not my question. This is what your deputy said earlier this week: ‘We won’t be blindly cutting.’ So can you just be straight with our viewers now, you are going to have to make cuts to some government departments, aren’t you?” Trying to keep things vague, Reeves insisted: “We’re going to invest in the areas that are our priorities.”
But her refusal to give a straight answer didn’t sit well with viewers. People took to X (formerly Twitter) in frustration, with many saying they couldn’t bear to keep watching. One user wrote: “Literally cannot watch #bbclaurak, can’t bear seeing Rachel Reeves’ flimsy excuses. Turning off!” Another fumed: “Reeves might as well answer the comments by terrified disabled people by saying, ‘Yeah, whatever, f*** you’. Face-to-face assessments are not better, they’re worse because they’re so stressful. What they’re good for is kicking people off benefits for minor infractions.”
Others piled on, calling Reeves “aggressive” and “evasive,” with one post reading: “Reeves is making me now feel physically sick,” and another bluntly stating: “Reeves is toast, isn’t she? Unconvincing and evasive every time she opens her mouth.” It’s clear the backlash over Labour’s benefits plans – and Reeves’ handling of it – isn’t going away any time soon.
