Sketch: A sombre Spring Statement from Rachel Reeves saved by weak Tory response

Chancellor Rachel Reeves updated MPs on Wednesday - and the tone was all important

When Rachel Reeves delivered the first ever UK Budget announced by a woman in October, it made for grim reading. Alive to the horrors to come, the Chancellor spent the first 15 minutes detailing why the government had been forced into the decisions it had, citing the mini-budget, a Tory cover-up and years of failed policies.

Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, leaves 11, Downing Street to deliver her Spring Statement to Parliament. Picture Carl Court/Getty Images | Getty Images

Despite the painful measures being announced, that Budget was delivered with confidence and even anger, fury that this had been allowed to happen, and that Labour were now having to clean up the mess. MPs bought into it, backing Ms Reeves, and recognising her role as perhaps the most influential Cabinet member.

Listening on Wednesday as she gave the Spring Statement, that loud support has faded. The Chancellor started again with an extended session of blame, pointing the finger at the Conservatives and global events. But it was nothing MPs had not heard before. Cheers were muted, if at all.

Then it came to the substance, the fiscal update of it all. Benefits, cut. Growth, down. Initial forecasts, wrong, things bleaker than expected. The economy will grow, eventually, because of tough measures taken now. Gone was the authority, replaced now by a false warmth, a smile as she read out just how awful things were. It was like the results of a failed exam being read out, by a student who believes she’s on her way to Oxbridge. We’ve got the numbers wrong on benefit cuts, but thankfully my teacher has shown we need to cut even more. Relief.

This was not a Budget, despite Tory claims. It was a bleak financial update with every little positive policy to take the edge off. One area of celebration was a boost for defence, which did garner cheers from MPs, but it’s not enough. Security is important, holding back an invader against Russia. But the cheers are quieter when it’s coming after benefit cuts, which the government’s own impact reports says will plunge 250,000 into poverty.

The shadow chancellor Mel Stride helped wake Labour MPs up | Jordan Pettitt/PA Wire

It gave the dwindled number of Tories confidence, finding their voice in Parliament once again. When the Chancellor told MPs “we can act quickly and decisively", she was heckled with a “go on then”.

Ms Reeves’s greatest moment, and perhaps her saving grace, came in the response from the shadow chancellor Mel Stride, a man loudly criticising someone for not cleaning up his mess.

Mr Stride branded the Chancellor a “gambler” who “fiddled” the fiscal targets, drawing a slap down for unparliamentary language from the Speaker. He also described the statement as a “budget”.

Mr Stride’s criticisms and refusal to take responsibility seemed to invigorate Ms Reeves and her MPs, who suddenly woke up to the fact a game was happening. She even remembered jokes, mocking Tory leader Kemi Badenoch by saying “I know she'll want to get back to her office for her lunchtime steak soon”.

The loudest moment of all came when Ms Reeves outlined the areas where Labour had increased spending. “Minimum wage, up, real wages, up, house building, up, NHS investment, up, investment in our schools, up, investment on roads, up, defence, up,” she said.

It was a reminder that Parliament is a performance, and framing is often more important than being right. Ms Reeves's announcements have upset MPs, but she can be thankful to the Tories for keeping her backbenchers on side.