Questions have been raised about the accuracy of the Chancellor’s online CV, and the use of expenses while working at a bank.

Question Time audience member skewers Labour minister

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A BBC Question Time audience member has grilled a minister over Rachel Reeves’s CV.

The Chancellor on Thursday updated her job history on professional networking site LinkedIn to reflect she worked at Halifax Bank of Scotland (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.

But an audience member asked Skills Minister Baroness Jacqui Smith why people should believe what they see on the professional networking site.

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Jacqui Smith faced a grilling from audience members (Image: BBC)

The audience member asked: “Has she just completley undermined LinkedIn, saying there’s no truth in it because a member of her staff put it on. Why should we believe what’s on LinkedIn anymore?”

Baroness Smith had suggested earlier in the programme that the LinkedIn page was not a CV, which is a separate document handed to employers when searching for jobs.

She said: “What we’re talking about is not a CV. What we’re talking about is a LinkedIn account produced by her staff which she didn’t see before it went up.

“A CV is what you submit to somebody when you’re trying to get a job and it would be wholly wrong if what you said on that was not true.”

Before entering parliament, the Chancellor was one of three employees investigated by HBOS for using her expenses to “fund a lifestyle” with inappropriate spending on dinners, events, taxis and gifts, the BBC has alleged.

The broadcaster uncovered documents it said showed Ms Reeves was accused of spending hundreds of pounds on the items, including one gift for her boss. Concerns were reportedly raised about her spending on taxis and on a Christmas party, with one whistleblower believing it to be excessive, the BBC said.

Ms Reeves’s spokesman said she did not recall being investigated by HBOS or facing questions over her expenses.

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Sir Keir Starmer backed Ms Reeves on Thursday as she came under pressure over inaccuracies in her CV and her use of expenses in a previous job.

A lawyer for the Chancellor, who is MP for Leeds West and Pudsey, has also said she was not subject to “allegations of wrongdoing or misconduct” during her career in retail banking.

Asked whether he was comfortable with the Chancellor appearing to exaggerate her relevant experience, Sir Keir said on Thursday: “Rachel Reeves has dealt with any issues that arise.

“She delivered a really important budget for the country that balanced the books, gave us stability, that is beginning to see those interest rates come down, those mortgages coming down as a result – beginning to see some of the growth we need.

“She is determined that we go further with that. She can deal with the issues that arise out of this report many years ago.”

Asked if Ms Reeves could be trusted, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “Yes, the Chancellor is working with the whole of Cabinet to deliver the Plan for Change.”

On whether it would be right to say the Prime Minister does not have any concerns about Ms Reeves’ conduct, he said: “Correct.”

Downing Street said the Chancellor went through a ministerial declaration process like other members of Cabinet when she joined the Government, but the spokesperson would not get into the detail of what was disclosed.

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The Conservatives’ Danny Kruger, also appearing on Question Time, said Ms Reeves is “anti-growth”.

He added: “The real test in her actual performance, and I don’t think much of her qualifications as an economist if she’s doing what she’s done.”

It came as GDP figures for the last quarter of 2024 show growth of 0.1%.