‘It’s a straight question!’ Mel Stride faces intense GB News grilling over Rachel Reeves’ future

She is facing the heat amid a concerning economic backdrop and her fiscal headroom is becoming increasingly limited.

Stride refused to pile on the pressure while speaking to Camilla Tominey on GB News by swerving a definitive position on whether his political opponent should step down.

Asked if Britain is in a GDP (Gross Domestic Product) per capita recession, he said: GDP per capita is declining. GDP is incredibly flat.

“Given changes to the size of the population, it is the case that is happening and it is happening on the Government’s watch.”

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“Shouldn’t Rachel Reeves resign?”, Camilla asked in response.

Mel Stride then brought up a previous interview on the Camilla Tominey show where the GB News star repeatedly asked the same question.

“We had a long series of you asking this question over and over this time”, he said.

“It’s just a straight question”, a smirking Camilla responded.

“And I’m going to give you a straight answer”, Stride insisted.

He continued: “The perfectly straight answer is, running around and demanding the resignation of all sorts of ministers left, right and centre is not the way we’re going to do our duty by this country.

“The way we do our duty to this country is hold this Government to account, expose their failings and push them to do the right things.

“In the longer time, over the next months and years, we will do hard, deep thinking to come up with the solutions for this country to take to the electorate.”

Ahead of the statement, Reeves has pledged to cut the running costs of government by 15 per cent and reduce civil service jobs by 10,000.

The announcement comes as part of her commitment to fiscal discipline while attempting to boost economic growth.

The Chancellor has defended her stewardship of the economy since Labour took office, saying she has made "difficult choices" to address economic challenges.

Reeves told Sky News she is "not satisfied with the numbers that we see at the moment" but remains confident living standards will improve during this parliament.

"It's not possible within just a few months to reverse more than a decade of economic stagnation, but we are making the changes necessary," she said.

The Chancellor has promised not to raise further taxes while maintaining her fiscal rules.

Although overall government spending will increase, with significant rises for defence and the NHS, other departments have been asked to model cuts of up to 11 per cent.