Mel Stride questioned where the Chancellor was after she was not present in the Commons to respond to an urgent question about Britain’s finances.
The shadow chancellor asked about the turmoil in UK financial markets after a jump in government borrowing costs and a slump in the pound.
But Treasury minister Darren Jones was standing in for , who is due to travel to China this week but is facing calls to cancel the trip from the .
Prompting cheers from Tory benches, said: “Where is the Chancellor?
“It is a bitter regret that at this difficult time with these serious issues she herself is nowhere to be seen.
Shadow chancellor Mel Stride erupted in the Commons (Image: PARLIAMENT TV)
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Chancellor Rachel Reeves (Image: Getty)
“In the last 48 hours borrowing costs have reached a 27-year high and it is the Chancellor’s decisions that have led us here.
“Before the election (Rachel Reeves) promised that Labour would get debt falling, they would not fiddle the figures, they would not raise taxes and they would grow the economy, but the economy is now flatlining.
“Survey after survey is showing business confidence has simply evaporated and at the budget the Chancellor hiked up taxes, increased borrowing by an average of £32 billion-a-year across the forecast and conveniently adjusted her fiscal rules to allow her to do it.
“Higher debt and lower growth are understandably now causing real concerns among the public, amongst businesses and in the markets.
“And despite what (Mr Jones) says about international factors, the premium on our borrowing costs compared to German bonds recently hit its highest level since 1990.
“With these rising costs, regrettably the Government may now be on course to breach their fiscal rules and the Chancellor has committed to no further tax rises, so does (Mr Jones) stand by her commitment not to increase taxes even further and, if so, does this mean that the public should expect cuts to public service spending if the OBR judge her fiscal headroom has evaporated?”
Mr Jones said UK gilt markets “continue to function in an orderly way”, telling MPs: “The Debt Management Office’s gilt sales operations continue to see strong demand, with the latest auction held yesterday receiving three times as many bids as the amount on offer.
“The Chancellor has commissioned the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) for an updated economic and fiscal forecast for March 26, which will incorporate the latest data. Only the OBR’s forecast can accurately predict the effect on the public finances of any changes in financial markets or the economy, and I will not pre-empt their forecast.
“There should be no doubt of the Government’s commitment to economic stability and sound public finances; this is why meeting the fiscal rules is non-negotiable.”
Mr Jones went on to accuse the of having “crashed the economy” when in power.
It comes after state borrowing costs struck their highest level for almost 17 years yesterday amid a continued sell-off in the bond market and investor concerns over the threat of stagflation.
The rise in the cost of servicing government debts could cut into Labour’s expected financial headroom in a potentially worrying sign of how investors see fiscal sustainability in the UK.
This also contributed to a plunge in the value of the pound, which dropped to its lowest level since April last year.
Sterling dropped by as much as 1.1% to 1.233 against the dollar on Wednesday.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year UK gilt, which reflects the cost of government borrowing, climbed by roughly 12 basis points to a peak of 4.81% which is the highest reading since the 2008 financial crash.