STOP the rush to “political suicide” ministers were told today as they prepared a fresh round of spending cuts.

Leading left MP and former shadow chancellor John McDonnell issued the warning to Rachel Reeves as the Chancellor returned from her China trip to confront the bond market crisis.

Mr McDonnell, presently suspended from the Labour whip for opposing the cruel two-child benefit cap, told BBC radio: “There is obviously a problem.

“There’s turbulence in the international markets, and we’ve just got to see those through.

“You don’t turn to cuts, certainly, because not only will that be politically suicidal, that would undermine the political support upon which Labour got elected.

“In addition to that, you would be taking demand out of the economy, and you would be looking at turning a crisis into a recession. 

“So I think you just have to see through the turbulence in the markets.”

Mr McDonnell also reminded the government that voters matter more than markets.

“The most important people are the electorate and I think what has to happen here is the electorate have to be protected,” he said, adding that only Nigel Farage’s Reform UK would benefit from further cuts.

“We’re looking at a level of disillusionment which then turns people towards, unfortunately, Reform. And I think that would be a disaster for the country.

“So it is important now to look at what the electoral response would be to another round of cuts.”

He called for an alternative approach based on tackling inequality.

Mr McDonnell said Ms Reeves should accept the need for a wealth tax to tackle “the grotesque inequality that we have within our society — 16 million living in poverty, and yet at the same time, we’ve now created in our society 165 billionaires.”

“And on the last calculation I saw, in the two years from 2020 to 2022, they made an additional £150 billion of wealth,” he said. 

“I think you have to look at redistribution.”

Mr McDonnell was echoed by Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer, who wrote to the Chancellor warning of the “impossible” situation in the country.

She said: “Public services have been cut to the bone and we’re all feeling the impact.

“We need to see a wealth tax, not further cuts.”

Ms Reeves shows no sign of listening to this advice. 

Answering questions in the Commons on her return from Beijing she doubled down on her markets-first strategy.

Asked by the Scottish National Party’s Stephen Flynn to rule out spending cuts she instead ruled out changing her fabled fiscal rules.

“I am absolutely committed to meeting the fiscal rules that I set out in the Budget in October, because we know what happens when governments lose control of the public finances: they crash the economy,” she said.

Ms Reeves has received a vote of confidence from Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer who, under pressure, committed to keeping her in post until the next election. 

Given the Prime Minister’s record on broken pledges, it is unlikely she was reassured.

But Downing Street has said “nothing is off the table” in the search for “ruthless” spending cuts to cover the rising cost of funding state debt. 

Welfare payments for the disabled are believed to be a top target for the Cabinet.

Ms Reeves continues to hope for some signs of an economic revival, telling MPs that “the economic headwinds we face are a reminder that we should, indeed we must, go further and faster in our plan to kick-start economic growth.”

If Ms Reeves does commit to “political suicide,” as Mr McDonnell warns, she will not be alone. 

Back-bench Labour MPs rushed forward to back the Chancellor, with Preet Gill saying she had nothing but “admiration and support” for Ms Reeves.