Angela Rayner’s departure is an old-fashioned scalp for the rightwing press
Angela Rayner’s departure from cabinet marks an abrupt end for a politician who had fought doggedly to reach Labour’s top table.It also represents an old-fashioned scalp for the press, elements of which have been poring over her finances and living arrangements for more than a year.The frustration among Rayner’s friends is that she had already survived waves of stories aimed at derailing her political career.However, they say her admission that she did not pay the correct stamp duty on the purchase of a Hove flat, which some see as a maddening own goal, gave her opponents a clear opening.The Telegraph was already claiming victory on Wednesday, reliving how it had exposed crucial details of the Labour deputy leader’s tax arrangements on the flat purchase at the end of last week.
It followed Rayner’s lengthy admission that an error had been made, which she said had come after incorrect advice.However, her statement also revealed complicated personal circumstances that included a court order, a divorce, shifting living arrangements and a trust set up to support her disabled son.The error was exposed after a previous attempt to draw attention to Rayner’s housing arrangements failed to dislodge her.The Mail on Sunday pursued Rayner last year with allegations she had avoided tax on the sale of a former home.After demands from Conservative MPs, the case was examined by Greater Manchester police, which cleared her of criminal wrongdoing.
Soon after, HM Revenue and Customs said she owed no tax,It was the Mail on Sunday that also first reported Rayner’s acquisition of the Hove flat, stating she had added it to her “burgeoning property empire”,The Telegraph’s crucial development came days later,Rayner says the Hove property is the only one she owns,By then, the Sun had nicknamed her “three pads Rayner”, echoing the press’s treatment of John Prescott, who – like Rayner – was a Labour deputy prime minister handed high office for his ability to keep a significant slice of the union movement onboard.
Prescott was labelled “two Jags” by the press after he used two Jaguar cars – one that he owned, the other a ministerial car,Coverage of the Rayner row has since spread well beyond the rightwing press,The extent of her admission was enough to lose her the support of some media figures who had been sympathetic,James O’Brien, an LBC radio host who describes himself as a liberal, had said she could no longer survive as housing secretary,In recent days, Rayner and those close to her have found themselves at the centre of a classic media feeding frenzy, with her partner’s work and associations also examined closely.
More stories have appeared in the traditionally rightwing press: one questioned the valuation of her family home in Ashton-under-Lyne; another accused her of planning to find a safer seat, based on a claim by a Reform MP,Sign up to First EditionOur morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it mattersafter newsletter promotionHowever, as the front pages began to roll in on Thursday night, even Labour’s media allies signalled trouble,The Mirror’s front page called it “crisis point” for Starmer’s deputy,It followed a statement from the conveyancing firm Rayner used to complete her purchase of the Brighton flat, stating it did not offer her tax advice,While Rayner is the most high-profile figure to depart under Starmer after media scrutiny of her private affairs, she is not the first.
It is less than a month since Rushanara Ali, the homelessness minister for England, resigned after reports she evicted tenants from a property she owns then re-let it for £700 more a month.Despite the attention on Rayner, there has also been some sympathy for her in the pages of the Telegraph.Its tax columnist, the retired accountant Mike Warburton, said he, too, had been unaware of the rules Rayner had broken.“No, I am not going soft in the head and I do not want to get involved in the politics, but this is an example of one of my overriding themes: our tax rules are far too complicated,” he wrote.“The fact is, the stamp duty rules are very complex and I have to admit that last week when I was asked about this I had not appreciated how the trust complicated matters.
I can therefore understand that others can become confused.In my view we need a complete overhaul of our complex tax rules.Stamp duty would be a good place to start.”
Lammy made deputy PM and Cooper foreign secretary after Rayner’s exit
David Lammy has been made deputy prime minister and Yvette Cooper has taken over as foreign secretary as Keir Starmer embarked on a massive reshuffle sparked by the forced departure of Angela Rayner from government.Immediate changes were required due to Rayner’s resignation as deputy PM and housing secretary after the prime minister’s ethics adviser found she had breached the ministerial code over her underpayment of stamp duty on a seaside flat.But the extent of the changes, with only a handful of cabinet ministers staying in the same job, indicated concern inside Downing Street that the government is faltering, and the need for a reset.Shabana Mahmood, the justice secretary, has taken over from Cooper at the Home Office, with Lammy becoming justice secretary as well as his deputy prime minister role.Pat McFadden, the chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, has been made work and pensions secretary, overseeing an enhanced department, which will take over Angela Rayner’s housing and communities brief
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“Up for an adventure” a sign declared outside the Birmingham National Exhibition Centre. You certainly need to be. After navigating a half-hour queue to get through security, a group of us were told we needed to go back outside, walk 10 minutes and then go through security again to reach the media centre.Which would have been fine except the staff at the new entrance had been given instructions not to admit the media, and told us to go back to where we had started and queue for security a third time. The theme for this year’s Reform party conference is “Ready for government”
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One of the most important unwritten rules of politics is that for a party to become a government it must first look like one. In the UK that involves holding not just rallies but a proper conference. Could Reform pull this off? Well, yes – in part.Previous Reform gatherings have, in effect, been rallies where every speaker was a support act for Nigel Farage.This is fine for grabbing attention and building support, but at some point voters want reassurance that there is a proper, functioning party machine in place, one capable of populating a cabinet of 20-plus people
The seven Labour MPs who have left Starmer’s government since election
Seven MPs have now left Keir Starmer’s government since Labour won power in 2024. Here is a rundown of those who have left since Labour came to power on 4 July 2024.The housing and communities secretary, as well as the deputy prime minister, resigned on Friday in the biggest exit yet for Starmer’s government.Rayner stood down after the prime minister’s ethics adviser, Sir Laurie Magnus, found she had breached the ministerial code over her underpayment of stamp duty on an £800,000 seaside flat, even though Magnus said she had “acted with integrity and with a dedicated and exemplary commitment to public service”.The homelessness minister resigned after it emerged tenants of a property she owns who had not had their lease renewed because she planned to sell the property had seen the same property back up for let with a substantial rent increase shortly afterwards
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Children in cities across Britain face barriers to playing outside because urban planners are prioritising housebuilding over parks, a study has found.The research, published in the peer-reviewed journal Cities and Health, found that planners were prioritising the approval of new homes ahead of outdoor play spaces due to a combination of policy misalignment, financial constraints and pressures stemming from a lack of housing.Emily Ranken, from the University College London Institute for Education and corresponding author of the research, said: “Our study offers a deep analysis of the challenges in embedding play into urban policy and our recommendations offer a blueprint for councils, developers, and public health leaders to make play a priority.”She added: “Well-designed play space has so many positive knock-on effects. For children, it takes them outside, away from screens and develops their cognitive and physical skills
Reform UK could strip FCA of power to regulate banking if elected
Nigel Farage could strip the City watchdog of its power to regulate the banking industry under a sweeping overhaul to undo changes made after the 2008 financial crisis if Reform UK was elected to government.The leader of the party at the top of opinion polls has said he wants to prepare for the potential for an early general election in 2027.A metals trader before entering politics, Farage has told allies that a Reform UK government would sweep away rules governing the City of London as a priority to boost economic growth, the Financial Times reported.This would include stripping the Financial Conduct Authority of its role in regulating banks, with control handed instead to the Bank of England. “Nigel thinks the FCA is a disaster and banking regulation needs to go back to the Bank of England,” a source close to Farage told the paper
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