Rachel Reeves has been forced to amend her CV again after being accused of exaggerating the length of time she spent at the Bank of England.
A investigation revealed the Chancellor left the Bank of England nine months before her LinkedIn profile suggests.
A spokesman for Ms Reeves admitted the dates on her LinkedIn profile were inaccurate, claiming it was an administrative error by her team.
She now admits to spending just over six years at Threadneedle Street, despite claiming in multiple interviews that she spent up to 10 years there.
In February last year, she told a Labour Party business conference: “I spent the best part of a decade as an economist at the Bank of England”.
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Rachel Reeves’s time before politics is once again under scrutiny (Image: Getty)
She began working for the Bank of England in 2000 as an analyst. She was promoted to the role of structural analyst by 2006 after spending a year in Washington DC at the British Embassy.
The latest edit is the second by the Chancellor since entering government last year. She previously admitted to working in Halifax’s customer relations department, not the retail banking unit as she initially claimed.
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Rachel Reeves served in Halifax’s customer relations department (Image: Getty)
The has also into the Chancellor’s time at HBOS after a former colleague’s claims about her expenses at the firm went viral.
Former Halifax colleague Kev Gillett said on social media that Ms Reeves “nearly got sacked due to an expenses scandal where the three senior managers were all signing off each other’s expenses”.
While Ms Reeves’s team has vigorously denied the allegations, the discovered another post on a private Facebook group for former HBOS employees in which someone asked if anyone had any memories of the Chancellor from her time working with them.
A former employee commented: “The expenses dept certainly do!” Several others made reference to the allegations.
The corporation has now confirmed there was an expenses investigation into Ms Reeves and two senior management colleagues while she worked at the bank.
However, there is no evidence the investigation was concluded before she departed on “good terms” with HBOS.
The whistleblowing complaint included dozens of pages of evidence, raising concerns about Ms Reeves and others using the bank’s cash to “fund a lifestyle” including spending on dinner, events, taxis and presents.
The complaint was submitted in 2009 and accused the now-Chancellor of spending hundreds of pounds on handbags, perfume, earrings and wine.
A source who worked in the bank’s risk department said: “Given the nature of the allegations – claiming expenses for things you wouldn’t normally claim expenses for – and the relative seniority of the individuals, the matter was referred for investigation by a team outside of that department.”
The internal audit team found evidence of wrongdoing by Ms Reeves and her two colleagues, it is claimed, before passing the findings to the risk department in April 2009.
However, the next interview stage did not take place, nor is there evidence it reached a conclusion.
The top Labour MP left the bank in May 2009 and there is no suggestion her departure was linked to the investigation.
Her team pointed out she was allowed to keep her company car for six months afterwards, suggesting she departed on “good terms” with a “severance payment, including full notice pay and a bonus”.
‘s spokesman insisted Rachel Reeves can be trusted and the PM has no concerns about her conduct.
The BBC’s investigation raises serious questions for Rachel Reeves. Keir Starmer said “restoring trust in politics is the great test of our era”. Until she comes clean – not just about her CV but about the circumstances in which she left HBOS, no one will take him seriously.
— Kemi Badenoch (@KemiBadenoch)
A spokesman for the Chancellor said: “Rachel is proud of the work she did at HBOS and the teams that she led, it is 16 years since she left the bank and the first time she was made aware of these claims was when approached by journalists. “
“She was not aware of an investigation nor was she interviewed, and she did not face any disciplinary action on this or any other matters. All expenses were submitted and signed off in the proper way.
“Several former colleagues from her time at the bank, including HBOS’ former HR business partner, have corroborated this account.
“Rachel left HBOS in 2009 on good terms.”
Jayne Wayper, former HR business partner for HBOS, added: “I do not recognise any of the accusations or claims that have been made against Rachel Reeves.”
“I cannot speak for the motivations behind those who have been making these claims about Rachel Reeves. However, I do not recognise them and understand she left the bank on good terms.”