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Rachel Reeves says “no one ever raised any concerns” about her expenses when she worked at HBOS, as she responds to reports she was investigated while working for the bank.

The chancellor was accused by former employees of being involved in an “expenses scandal” while working at Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) from 2006 to 2009, according to the BBC.

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Speaking for the first time in public after the reports, Ms Reeves said: “No one ever raised any concerns about my expenses when I worked for Halifax Bank of Scotland.

“I submitted, had processed and had my expenses signed off in the proper way as you would expect, and no issues were ever raised during my time at Halifax Bank of Scotland.”

She added: “I was never questioned, never asked to pay back any expenses.”

Yesterday, Ms Reeves‘ spokesperson said she was “not aware of an investigation, nor was she interviewed”. Her lawyer has denied the allegations.

Jayne Wayper, former HR business partner for HBOS, said: “I do not recognise any of the accusations or claims that have been made against Rachel Reeves.”

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Chancellor ‘not satisfied’ despite small uptick in growth

Ms Reeves added that people will judge her on how well she does at her job as chancellor, rather than on her LinkedIn profile.

Her career history was changed following reports from the BBC that the amount of time that she claimed to have worked for the Bank of England was inaccurate.

The chancellor said: “I worked as an economist at the Bank of England between 2000 and 2006 before going to work in financial services for Halifax Bank of Scotland.

“And I’m really proud of the work that I did before I became an MP, but in the end, people are going to judge me on the job that I’m doing now as chancellor of the exchequer to grow the economy and put more money in the pockets of working people.”

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Leader of the opposition Kemi Badenoch had earlier said that Ms Reeves had “very, very serious questions to answer” over the reports.

She said: “Keir Starmer said that he was bringing in a government of integrity.

“He’s lost one minister due to corruption allegations. Another one has had to resign because of fraud that was committed while she was working – and this is pretty close to that.”

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PMQ clash on immigration

Sir Keir Starmer has given his full backing to his chancellor.

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Why Boris’s best mate is off to Reform

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Why Boris's best mate is off to Reform

👉Listen to Politics at Sam and Anne’s on your podcast app👈       

Former Conservative chairman and friend of Boris Johnson – Sir Jake Berry – is defecting to Reform UK, causing more problems for Tory leader Kemi Badenoch.

On today’s episode, Sky News’ Sam Coates and Politico’s Anne McElvoy discuss if his defection will divide parts of Reform policy.

Elsewhere, the Anglo-French summit gets under way, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer hoping to announce a migration deal with French President Emmanuel Macron to deter small boat crossings.

Plus, chatter around Whitehall that No10 are considering a pre-summer reshuffle, but will it have any value?

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Australia to test CBDCs, stablecoins in next stage of crypto play

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Australia to test CBDCs, stablecoins in next stage of crypto play

Australia to test CBDCs, stablecoins in next stage of crypto play

The trial is part of Project Acacia, an initiative from the RBA exploring how digital money and tokenization could support financial markets in Australia.

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Starmer and Macron agree need for ‘new deterrent’ to stop small boat crossings

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Starmer and Macron agree need for 'new deterrent' to stop small boat crossings

Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron have agreed the need for a “new deterrent” to deter small boats crossings in the Channel, Downing Street has said.

The prime minister met Mr Macron this afternoon as part of the French president’s state visit to the UK, which began on Tuesday.

High up the agenda for the two leaders is the need to tackle small boat crossings in the Channel, which Mr Macron said yesterday was a “burden” for both the UK and France.

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The small boats crisis is a pressing issue for the prime minister, given that more than 20,000 migrants crossed the English Channel to the UK in the first six months of this year – a rise of almost 50% on the number crossing in 2024.

Sir Keir is hoping he can reach a deal for a one-in one-out return treaty with France, ahead of the UK-France summit on Thursday, which will involve ministerial teams from both nations.

The deal would see those crossing the Channel illegally sent back to France in exchange for Britain taking in any asylum seeker with a family connection in the UK.

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However, it is understood the deal is still in the balance, with some EU countries unhappy about France and the UK agreeing on a bilateral deal.

French newspaper Le Monde reports that up to 50 small boat migrants could be sent back to France each week, starting from August, as part of an agreement between Sir Keir and Mr Macron.

A statement from Downing Street said: “The prime minister met the French President Emmanuel Macron in Downing Street this afternoon.

“They reflected on the state visit of the president so far, agreeing that it had been an important representation of the deep ties between our two countries.

“Moving on to discuss joint working, they shared their desire to deepen our partnership further – from joint leadership in support of Ukraine to strengthening our defence collaboration and increasing bilateral trade and investment.”

It added: “The leaders agreed tackling the threat of irregular migration and small boat crossings is a shared priority that requires shared solutions.

“The prime minister spoke of his government’s toughening of the system in the past year to ensure rules are respected and enforced, including a massive surge in illegal working arrests to end the false promise of jobs that are used to sell spaces on boats.

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“The two leaders agreed on the need to go further and make progress on new and innovative solutions, including a new deterrent to break the business model of these gangs.”

Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, seized on the statement to criticise Labour for scrapping the Conservatives’ Rwanda plan, which the Tories claim would have sent asylum seekers “entering the UK illegally” to Rwanda.

He said in an online post: “We had a deterrent ready to go, where every single illegal immigrant arriving over the Channel would be sent to Rwanda.

“But Starmer cancelled this before it had a chance to start.

“Now, a year later, he’s realised he made a massive mistake. That’s why numbers have surged and this year so far has been the worst in history for illegal channel crossings.

“Starmer is weak and incompetent and he’s lost control of our borders.”

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