Labour has said it will not bring back the cap on bankers’ bonuses – just three months after criticising Rishi Sunak for scrapping it.

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves told the BBC that she wanted to be “a champion of a successful and thriving financial services industry in the UK”.

But her U-turn led to criticism and mockery from Labour’s political opponents.

The bonus cap was initially introduced in 2014 as a way of curbing the excesses of the banking sector in the wake of the 2008 financial crash.

But in October, the Financial Conduct Authority confirmed that it was ending.

Reeves, the shadow chancellor, led the criticism of the move at the time, posting on X (formerly Twitter): “Today – in the midst of their cost of living crisis – the Conservatives are scrapping the cap on bankers’ bonuses. It tells you everything you need to know about this Government.”

Darren Jones, the shadow Treasury secretary, also pointed out that getting rid of the bonus cap was one of Liz Truss’s policies during her seven weeks as PM.

He said: “When Truss says jump, Sunak says how high.

“At a time when families are struggling with the cost of living and mortgages are rising, this decision tells you everything you need to know about the priorities of this out of touch Conservative government.”

But in a dramatic change of heart, Reeves told the BBC that if Labour wins the election, they will not bring back the cap.

She said: “The cap on bankers’ bonuses was bought in in the aftermath of the global financial crisis and that was the right thing to do to rebuild the public finances.

“But that has gone now and we don’t have any intention of bringing that back. And as chancellor of the exchequer, I would want to be a champion of a successful and thriving financial services industry in the UK.”

Christina McAnea, general secretary of Unison, said: “Reckless banker behaviour and sky-high city bonuses helped cause the global financial crisis. Public services and working people are still paying the price for that crash today.

“A Labour government should reinstate the bonus cap scrapped last autumn.”

Stephen Flynn, the SNP’s leader at Westminster, pointed out Reeves’ apparent hypocrisy on X.

David Linden, the SNP social justice spokesman, said: “The UK economy is broken, and Brexit is hammering living standards, but Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party is offering no change from broken Brexit Britain.

“By admitting he would slash funding for public services, while helping the super rich, Starmer has shown he has the wrong priorities and is on the side of the wealthy Westminster elite, not ordinary working families.”