Rachel Reeves says she will not let critics get her down after a week of painful speculation over whether she could be ousted as chancellor.

Reeves said she was qualified for the job and had ideas to turn things around amid concerns about falling business confidence and rising government borrowing costs.

"I didn't take it personally this week. It was political," she told the BBC's Political Thoughts with Nick Robinson. "There are people who don't want me to succeed. There are people who don't want this administration to succeed. That's fair. That's their prerogative. But I'm not going to let them get me down. I'm not going to let them stop me from doing what this administration has mandated to do. The main thing is to develop the economy and let working people live a better life.

"People have been through a tough time over the past few years. The cost of living crisis has taken its toll. Our economy is not competitive enough. People's wages are stagnant. We still have a lot of work to do."

Reeves was also asked whether her decision to increase national insurance for employers had undermined business confidence.

She defended her choice by saying, "What other choice was there?"

"Of course, all decisions have consequences," she said. "But imagine the alternative. Imagine I didn't solve this problem. Now, when financial markets look at Britain, they will say this is a government that is untrue to the situation it faces. It spends more money than it makes. More money. It has to borrow more and more money.

"I am unwilling to gloss over the very real problems we face on the fiscal front. And the numbers don't add up. They now add up to me as chancellor. I swear, I promise, I will never do what the previous administration did in public." Fiscal issues."

Asked if she was happy to be portrayed as an "iron prime minister," Reeves said: "If people want to describe me that way...but I make the right decisions. I'm happy to be a hardcore Prime Minister, if you want to call me that. "

Reeves has been under pressure after market turbulence, but cooling inflation data on Wednesday helped lower borrowing costs in British financial markets and gave him some breathing room. However, the broader growth of the past few months still puts her in danger of violating her own fiscal rules.

In response, Reeves considered further cuts to public spending, while investors said tax increases may be needed to balance the books.

Speculation over Reeves' future intensified further this week, with Starmer saying he had "full confidence" in her and that she was doing a "fantastic job", but refusing to say whether she would still be his treasurer at the end of this parliament. Minister.

The Prime Minister's spokesman later confirmed that Reeves would remain in office until the next election. "He has full confidence in the Prime Minister and he will work with her across Parliament," he said.