It’s shaping up to be a difficult year for Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who is struggling to get many within her own party – and Cabinet – onside with proposed spending cuts. But fear not, Reeves has managed to find some downtime amid the drama. It transpires that she nabbed free tickets to US singer Sabrina Carpenter’s recent London show, with the Busy Woman letting her hair down at the weekend. Alright for some!
As revealed by the i paper, the Chancellor rocked up at the sold-out show last weekend with free tickets – after other attendees had paid up to £900 to attend the Espresso singer’s gig. Reeves is not thought to have broken any rules and the Labour MP is expected to declare the corporate invite in the upcoming declaration of financial interests – but as her government considers slashing disability benefits, it’s hardly the best look. Talk about a lack of Good Graces, eh?
But while Reeves was letting off steam at Carpenter’s glamorous gig, a growing number of Labour MPs were plotting to oppose the billions of pounds of cuts to benefits that is expected to be announced next week. It’s not just slashing welfare that parliamentarians are worried about – even Cabinet ministers are rather sceptical about the prospect of further departmental cuts likely to be announced in Reeves’s looming Spring Statement. As the Times reports, ministers lined up at Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting to raise concerns about the Chancellor’s position on spending cuts, welfare reform and taxation.
The latest Reeves revelation follows the freebie fiasco of 2024, where 14 Labour MPs (including seven Cabinet ministers) received free Taylor Swift tickets – totalling a whopping £23,328. The outing has sparked outrage among Labour welfare reform rebels, who are begging Reeves to Please Please Please reconsider benefits cuts – with MP Rachael Maskell fuming to the i paper: ‘To hear of a repeat [of free hospitality], should it have occurred, is deeply troubling, not least at a time when many disabled people are worried sick about having their lifeline of support reduced’. So much for the party of the working people, eh?
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