Rachel Reeves 'told to attend voice training' - 'sounds like a Dalek'

Rachel Reeves has been urged to attend voice training by Labour MPs concerned about her "robotic" public speeches, according to reports. The Chancellor hasn't had it easy since moving into Number 11 in July 2024, with plunging favourability ratings, growing threats from the right and a string of global crises, the latest of which has wreaked economic havoc on the UK. Fellow party members have another bone to pick with the MP for Leeds West and Pudsey, however, amid fears she has come across as "deadly serious and robotic" to the British public.

Several Labour MPs have reportedly encouraged Ms Reeves to "undergo voice training" in a bid to reveal her "more relaxed, likeable and funny" private side. A tendency to "freeze in public" has fed into her public image as "a cross between a Dalek and a claims assessor trying to explain why fire insurance doesn't cover a blaze that has destroyed a claimant's house", critics said.

One Labour insider told Daily Mail columnist Andrew Pierce: "Politics is about performance - and she can't perform in public."

The Chancellor slumped to a -6% popularity rating in recent inner-party polling by the news website LabourList, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer not faring much better at just 3%.

The ongoing US-Israeli war in Iran has spelt further economic turmoil for the Government, with experts warning of an upcoming blow to the public finances if the conflict is prolonged.

Borrowing jumped to £14.3 billion in February, £2.2 billion higher than a year ago, despite predictions that it would fall.

Ms Reeves has also been warned of a "double squeeze", with the war in the Gulf likely to cut tax revenue by damaging Britain's economy, while also putting her under pressure to provide cash for struggling businesses and households.

Energy experts Cornwall Insight forecast that the Ofgem price cap, which limits what suppliers can charge domestic customers, will rise to £1,973 per year for the average household, an increase of £332 or 20% on April's cap.

The consultancy initially predicted a £4 increase but revised the figure in response to the Middle East conflict, including Iranian strikes on a Qatari gas facility and attacks on Iran's South Pars gasfield, the largest in the world.

Craig Lowrey, Principal Consultant at Cornwall Insight, said: "Gas markets were already volatile, and the Israeli strike on Iran's South Pars field, and Iran's subsequent retaliation, has increased that instability.

"The ultimate scale of any increase in bills, whether in July or further ahead, will depend on how long the disruption continues."