No 10 does not deny Chancellor rowed with US counterpart in Washington meetings

David Lynch, Press Association Political Correspondent

Downing Street would not deny reports that Chancellor Rachel Reeves rowed with her US counterpart during a visit to Washington DC earlier this year.

Ms Reeves had an argument with Scott Bessent when she visited the US capital for the International Monetary Fund’s spring meetings, according to the Financial Times.

The Chancellor publicly criticised the US-led war against Iran before travelling across the Atlantic, prompting Mr Bessent to berate her on the sidelines of the gathering, the newspaper reported.

Ms Reeves reportedly hit back that she did not work for the US treasury secretary, and disliked how he had spoken to her, before reiterating her argument that America lacked clear goals going into the conflict and was not making the world safer.

On Tuesday, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman was asked if he would steer away from the reports, and appeared not to.

He did however insist Ms Reeves and her US counterpart have had “constructive” engagements since the Washington DC visit.

The spokesman said: “We would not get into private conversations. The Chancellor and the US treasury secretary have a good relationship.

“They have had constructive conversations together since the Chancellor’s visits to Washington.

“I think there is a readout from the US Department of Treasury, which made clear the productive nature of their relationship.”

The Chancellor emerged as one of the most outspoken UK Government critics of the US decision to go to war in Iran before travelling to the IMF meetings in April.

At the time, she described the war as a “folly” and said: “This is a war that we did not start. It was a war that we did not want.

“I feel very frustrated and angry that the US went into this war without a clear exit plan, without a clear idea of what they were trying to achieve.”