It is clear that somebody has it in for Rachel Reeves and the story about her CV and her past conduct continues to snowball, the allegations made in today’s Times newspaper is a new addition to the allegations against her.

For the first time I genuinely think she might be in trouble as the comments by her spokesman when these allegations were put to them didn’t contain an outright denial, although I may well be over parsing these comments

A spokesperson for Reeves told The Times that she was unaware of the claims that had been made against her or any investigation into her expenses.

“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.”

TSE