Following a speech on AI, Sir Keir Starmer has just been asked whether Rachel Reeves will still be chancellor at the next general election.

The prime minister doesn’t explicitly answer.

Instead, he says the UK’s fiscal rules are “absolutely central to what we do”.

“The changes we’re bringing about… all of these are designed to ensure that we get the growth that we need.”

Sir Keir adds he is “confident in our team”.

“We never pretended… that after 14 years of failure you can turn around our economy and our public services before Christmas.”

‘Full confidence’ in chancellor

Asked again if Ms Reeves will be his chancellor for the duration of this parliament, Sir Keir says she has his “full confidence”.

“She has the full confidence of the entire party,” he adds.

“She was given an incredibly challenging task at the budget because not only was the economy broken, but we had a £20bn black hole.”

Sir Keir says his chancellor “took the tough decisions” and she was “right” to do so.

He again refuses to guarantee he’ll keep her in post.

Reporting on this story, Sky News political editor Beth Rigby says: “That he’s even being asked that question tells you a bit about the nervousness in the markets.”