‘Rayner sneers while Reeves is in tears’: Contrast the upbeat and ‘scathing-looking’ Deputy PM and ‘utterly crushed’ Chancellor at PMQs
Sir Keir Starmer was ‘pinned between sneers and tears’ with an ‘utterly crushed’ Rachel Reeves on one side and a ‘scathing-looking’ Angela Rayner on the other, a body language expert said today.
Judi James added that the Chancellor gave a series of red flags that she was feeling emotional before she began crying in the House of Commons this afternoon.
Ms Reeves was visibly tearful as her position came under intense scrutiny after the welfare U-turn which put a near-£5 billion black hole in her plans.
But allies said she was dealing with a ‘personal matter’ while No 10 said she had Sir Keir’s ‘full backing’ despite him failing to publicly support her in the Commons.
Ms James has analysed frame-by-frame video of the moment Ms Reeves began crying and told MailOnline: ‘Starmer looks pinned between sneers and tears here.
‘Sneers from Rayner, who sits upright and almost impassive, performing a rather scathing-looking sideways glance with heavy-lidded eyes, making occasional nods of support for Starmer’s points but seeming to keep herself aloof and slightly distant.
‘Then poor Reeves’s tears, which do seem to roll openly down her cheeks, with just some head-tossing or twitching to maybe try to blow or knock them away.’
She added that Ms Reeves is ‘normally as robotically rigid as her boss’ and ‘tends to sit through PMQs looking primly dressed as she supports Starmer with some mocking smiles and nods’.
Sir Keir Starmer with Rachel Reeves on his left and Angela Rayner on his right at PMQs today
Chancellor Rachel Reeves was visibly tearful in the Commons during PMQs this afternoon
‘Sneers from Rayner, who sits upright and almost impassive, performing a rather scathing-looking sideways glance with heavy-lidded eyes, making occasional nods of support for Starmer’s points but seeming to keep herself aloof and slightly distant.’
But Ms James said of the Chancellor today: ‘Here though it’s the angle of her torso that is the first red flag in terms of emotions. She sits slumped forward at an ungainly angle with her blouse slightly askew. Her shoulders are hunched and her head pulled into her neck.
‘When she tries to smile it is just a pinching of her lips and her eyes perform a staccato, twitchy blink suggesting inner distress or anxiety.
‘In close up her eyes appear reddened and damp and there are some screen grabs that seem to suggest a tear or tears are actually running down her cheeks. If this is authentic it would suggest genuine, uncontrolled upset.’
Sir Keir had faced questions over his handling of a welfare reform package which has been stripped of key elements to limit the scale of a Labour revolt.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said Ms Reeves looked ‘absolutely miserable’ and challenged the Prime Minister to say whether she would keep her job until the next election.
Sir Keir dodged the question about whether Ms Reeves would be in place for the remainder of the Parliament, saying Mrs Badenoch ‘certainly won’t’.
But Ms James added that even Ms Badenoch’s delivery suggests ‘she might have pulled back a little here’.
Angela Rayner (left) and Rachel Reeves (right) either side of Sir Keir Starmer at PMQs today
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is visibly tearful this afternoon following the welfare U-turn
She continued: ‘When she says Reeves looks ‘absolutely miserable’ and repeats it, her voice seems to drop a little in tone as though she’s lacking the suitable sense of bloodlust to stick the verbal knife right in.
‘Reeves looks too vulnerable and if this is a personal problem she should obviously be prompting sympathy.’
Body language expert Judi James
Ms James also made the comparison to former prime minister Margaret Thatcher shedding a tear in an interview with ITN in 1991 about her final days at Downing Street.
She said: ‘This is not a first when it comes to political tears. Margaret Thatcher famously cried in a TV interview after being nudged out of office.
‘But her tear, because it was just one tear, was quickly dabbed away to in another display of her iron control. Her back remained upright and she looked as fierce as ever.
‘In contrast Rachel Reeves, who has channelled the Iron Lady in the past, looks utterly crushed here. ‘
Ms James said another close-up of Ms Reeves showed ‘another symptom of tears when her chin seems to crumple, and she appears to struggle to keep a straight facial expression’.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is seen crying as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaks today
She added: ‘From the side view we can also see how far in Starmer’s direction her torso has slumped as she leans at an acute angle, making her look exhausted.’
Turning her attention to Sir Keir, Ms James said his display was ‘all about a show of resilience and bravado though’.
She continued: ‘He sits next to his chancellor bouncing in his seat and chuckling with a sickly mouth smile and eye crinkling as she is called ‘miserable’ in a display of jollity although his eyes are pinned away from Reeves when one glance in her direction might warn him that he has little to chuckle about and much to be concerned about, even on a human level if she is in such distress.’
Just before the start of PMQs, video footage caught Labour MP Chris Ward – who is Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister – appearing to put his hand on Ms Reeves’s shoulder to check she was alright.
And Ms James said: ‘It’s actually warming to see Reeves getting a checking signal of concern and caring here even before PMQs start, albeit not from her boss but from someone on the benches behind her.
‘It could tie-in with the idea that her distress and her tears were caused by a personal matter as this MP quite openly leans forward to place a hand on her shoulder to check she is OK, which might suggest they are aware she has a private problem that she is determined to work through.
‘We can see her try to reassure him but as she turns there are those uncontrollable movement of the mouth and chin that tend to be a symptom of the real struggle she might be having to suppress her emotions.’
Just before the start of PMQs this afternoon, Labour MP Chris Ward – who is Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister – appeared to put his hand on Ms Reeves’s shoulder
Changes to restrict eligibility for the personal independence payment (Pip) were abandoned yesterday just 90 minutes before MPs voted on them, wiping out the savings that Ms Reeves had counted on to help meet her goal of funding day-to-day spending through tax receipts rather than borrowing.
Mrs Badenoch said: ‘Today the Prime Minister refused to back his Chancellor, leaving her humiliated.
She is the human shield for his expensive U-turns. How can anyone be a chancellor for a man who doesn’t know what he believes and who changes his mind every other minute?’
As the Chancellor left the Commons after Prime Minister’s Questions her sister, Ellie Reeves, took her hand in an apparent show of support.
Asked about her tears, a spokesman for the Chancellor said: ‘It’s a personal matter which, as you would expect, we are not going to get into.
‘The Chancellor will be working out of Downing Street this afternoon.’
Reports suggested Ms Reeves had been involved in an altercation with Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle shortly before Prime Minister’s Questions.
A spokeswoman for the Speaker said: ‘No comment.’
A comparison has been made to former prime minister Margaret Thatcher shedding a tear in an interview with ITN in 1991 about her final days at Downing Street
Asked why Sir Keir did not confirm in the Commons that he still had faith in Ms Reeves, the Prime Minister’s press secretary told reporters: ‘He has done so repeatedly.
‘The Chancellor is going nowhere. She has the Prime Minister’s full backing.
‘He has said it plenty of times, he doesn’t need to repeat it every time the Leader of the Opposition speculates about Labour politicians.’
Asked whether the Prime Minister still had confidence in Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall, the press secretary said: ‘Yes.’
Labour has promised that income tax, employee national insurance contributions and VAT will not be increased, restricting Ms Reeves’ options for raising money if she does look to hike taxes.
Sir Keir has declined to rule out tax rises later this year, telling MPs: ‘No prime minister or chancellor ever stands at the despatch box and writes budgets in the future.’
