While Starmer stressed that Reeves will remain in her job handling the nation's finances for "many years to come", the Chancellor told reporters that it was a "personal issue" that had caused her very public tears and that she remains focussed on "cracking on with the job" as head of the UK Treasury
The duo was joined by Health Secretary Wes Streeting at Sir Ludwig Guttman Health & Wellbeing Centre in east London as they launched the government's flagship '10 Year Health Plan' to "future-proof" the taxpayer-funded National Health Service (NHS)
"It's all down to the foundation we laid this year, all down to the path of renewal that we chose, the decisions made by the Chancellor, by Rachel Reeves, which mean we can invest record amounts in the NHS," said Starmer
"I think it is just fantastic that she [Reeves] is here. None of this would be happening if she hadn't taken the decisions that she has taken. She took those decisions and she will be taking them for many years to come," he said, as he launched a new "Neighbourhood Health Service" to set up community-based teams of health workers to "dramatically improve" access to the NHS
"Our 10-Year Health Plan will fundamentally rewire and future-proof our NHS so that it puts care on people's doorsteps, harnesses game-changing tech and prevents illness in the first place," added Starmer
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