OPINION
This isn't the end for Angela Rayner (Image: PA)
Well that was all pretty unedifying, not to say messy. Thank God for a free press. It took weeks of steadily mounting front-page disclosures over Angela Rayner’s property dealings before her fingernails were finally prised from three desks –deputy Labour leader, Deputy Prime Minister, and Housing Secretary. In the end it took a snappily-delivered report into the whole business by Sir Laurie Magnus, Sir Keir Starmer’s independent adviser on ministers’ interests, to do the prising.
Rayner had breached the ministerial code, he ruled yesterday. She hadn’t asked enough questions of the right experts about how much stamp duty was owing on her newly-purchased ￡800,000 flat in Hove. Hence the ￡40,000 shortfall. Hence, as of yesterday, the job shortfall.
Article continues belowADVERTISEMENT
DON'T MISS
Powered by
Nigel Farage fires five-word warning to Labour after Angela Rayner quits
POLL: Has Angela Rayner done the right thing by resigning?
Angela Rayner debacle nothing to do with class - and her own words prove it
Angela Rayner's resignation letter in full as ￡40k stamp duty row explodes
BBC star Chris Packham sparks outrage as he backs disgraced Angela Rayner
Keir Starmer quote resurfaces as he faces calls to sack Angela Rayner
Sky News chaos as Sophy Ridge pulled off air in No10 sound disaster: 'Call the gallery!'
Laura Kuenssberg fans 'switch off' in minutes over bizarre Angela Rayner defence
Angela Rayner quits after ￡40k stamp duty scandal as Labour on the brink
Keir Starmer told to stop Angela Rayner getting golden goodbye of nearly ￡17,000
Good Morning Britain halted for huge Angela Rayner update as ITV fans rage
Keir Starmer releases Angela Rayner statement and promises 'I will act'
Full list of every Labour minister who has quit since Keir Starmer became Prime Minister
David Lammy replaces Angela Rayner after bombshell resignation
Angela Rayner RECAP: Starmer sacks cabinet ministers as day of No.10 chaos goes on
Tone deaf Starmer 'determined' to save Angela Rayner over 'devastating' ￡40K tax bombshell
Ed Balls sticks knife into Angela Rayner in damning statement: 'Hypocritical!'
Keir Starmer breaks his silence on Angela Rayner's resignation
GMB star sparks backlash with Angela Rayner defence as she slams Nigel Farage
Labour civil war over deputy leader contest with Keir Starmer accused of 'stitch up'
Nigel Farage fires five-word warning to Labour after Angela Rayner quits
POLL: Has Angela Rayner done the right thing by resigning?
Angela Rayner debacle nothing to do with class - and her own words prove it
Angela Rayner's resignation letter in full as ￡40k stamp duty row explodes
BBC star Chris Packham sparks outrage as he backs disgraced Angela Rayner
Keir Starmer quote resurfaces as he faces calls to sack Angela Rayner
Sky News chaos as Sophy Ridge pulled off air in No10 sound disaster: 'Call the gallery!'
Laura Kuenssberg fans 'switch off' in minutes over bizarre Angela Rayner defence
Angela Rayner quits after ￡40k stamp duty scandal as Labour on the brink
Keir Starmer told to stop Angela Rayner getting golden goodbye of nearly ￡17,000
Good Morning Britain halted for huge Angela Rayner update as ITV fans rage
Keir Starmer releases Angela Rayner statement and promises 'I will act'
Full list of every Labour minister who has quit since Keir Starmer became Prime Minister
David Lammy replaces Angela Rayner after bombshell resignation
Angela Rayner RECAP: Starmer sacks cabinet ministers as day of No.10 chaos goes on
Tone deaf Starmer 'determined' to save Angela Rayner over 'devastating' ￡40K tax bombshell
Ed Balls sticks knife into Angela Rayner in damning statement: 'Hypocritical!'
Keir Starmer breaks his silence on Angela Rayner's resignation
GMB star sparks backlash with Angela Rayner defence as she slams Nigel Farage
Labour civil war over deputy leader contest with Keir Starmer accused of 'stitch up'
Nigel Farage fires five-word warning to Labour after Angela Rayner quits
POLL: Has Angela Rayner done the right thing by resigning?
Angela Rayner debacle nothing to do with class - and her own words prove it
Angela Rayner's resignation letter in full as ￡40k stamp duty row explodes
BBC star Chris Packham sparks outrage as he backs disgraced Angela Rayner
Keir Starmer quote resurfaces as he faces calls to sack Angela Rayner
Sky News chaos as Sophy Ridge pulled off air in No10 sound disaster: 'Call the gallery!'
Laura Kuenssberg fans 'switch off' in minutes over bizarre Angela Rayner defence
Angela Rayner quits after ￡40k stamp duty scandal as Labour on the brink
Keir Starmer told to stop Angela Rayner getting golden goodbye of nearly ￡17,000
Good Morning Britain halted for huge Angela Rayner update as ITV fans rage
Keir Starmer releases Angela Rayner statement and promises 'I will act'
Full list of every Labour minister who has quit since Keir Starmer became Prime Minister
David Lammy replaces Angela Rayner after bombshell resignation
Angela Rayner RECAP: Starmer sacks cabinet ministers as day of No.10 chaos goes on
Tone deaf Starmer 'determined' to save Angela Rayner over 'devastating' ￡40K tax bombshell
Ed Balls sticks knife into Angela Rayner in damning statement: 'Hypocritical!'
Keir Starmer breaks his silence on Angela Rayner's resignation
GMB star sparks backlash with Angela Rayner defence as she slams Nigel Farage
Labour civil war over deputy leader contest with Keir Starmer accused of 'stitch up'
Read more: David Lammy replaces Angela Rayner after bombshell resignation
Read more: Rayner to get taxpayer-funded payout after resigning over tax scandal
Of course it’s one third of that job that’s the specific problem: Housing Secretary. Of all the balls Rayner could have dropped, failing to pay her due whack of stamp duty is politically the equivalent of allowing a cannonball to land on her foot.
As she made her belated confession to Sky News’s Beth Rigby, you could practically hear the bones crunching. Personally I thought her fate was sealed from that moment. For a Housing Secretary to underpay – MASSIVELY underpay – housing tax... well...
Powered By
10 Sec
120K
9
UN chief reacts after Israel targets Hamas leadership in Qatar
Next
Stay
Starmer’s defence of Rayner during Prime Minister’s Questions later that same day was almost bizarre when he said, with a flourish, that his aide de camp “has come from a working-class background to be Deputy Prime Minister of this country.”
Sponsored
The Sleep Mistake That’s Ruining Your Neck
Undo
Uhh? What’s that got to do with anything? Are people with working-class backgrounds excused stamp duty, or other taxes, by virtue of their birthright? First I heard of it. I come from Romford, part of London’s wider East End. Perhaps I could negotiate a cut in one of my taxes on that basis.
DON'T MISS
Powered by
Sky News chaos as Sophy Ridge pulled off air in No10 sound disaster: 'Call the gallery!'
Laura Kuenssberg fans 'switch off' in minutes over bizarre Angela Rayner defence
Angela Rayner quits after ￡40k stamp duty scandal as Labour on the brink
Keir Starmer told to stop Angela Rayner getting golden goodbye of nearly ￡17,000
Good Morning Britain halted for huge Angela Rayner update as ITV fans rage
Keir Starmer releases Angela Rayner statement and promises 'I will act'
Full list of every Labour minister who has quit since Keir Starmer became Prime Minister
David Lammy replaces Angela Rayner after bombshell resignation
Angela Rayner RECAP: Starmer sacks cabinet ministers as day of No.10 chaos goes on
Tone deaf Starmer 'determined' to save Angela Rayner over 'devastating' ￡40K tax bombshell
Ed Balls sticks knife into Angela Rayner in damning statement: 'Hypocritical!'
Keir Starmer breaks his silence on Angela Rayner's resignation
GMB star sparks backlash with Angela Rayner defence as she slams Nigel Farage
Labour civil war over deputy leader contest with Keir Starmer accused of 'stitch up'
New Military-Grade Technology Boosts Water Pressure 15 Times Without...JetNoz |
Nigel Farage fires five-word warning to Labour after Angela Rayner quits
POLL: Has Angela Rayner done the right thing by resigning?
Top 15 Most Beautiful Women in the WorldTopgentlemen.com |
Angela Rayner debacle nothing to do with class - and her own words prove it
Angela Rayner's resignation letter in full as ￡40k stamp duty row explodes
BBC star Chris Packham sparks outrage as he backs disgraced Angela Rayner
Keir Starmer quote resurfaces as he faces calls to sack Angela Rayner
Sky News chaos as Sophy Ridge pulled off air in No10 sound disaster: 'Call the gallery!'
Laura Kuenssberg fans 'switch off' in minutes over bizarre Angela Rayner defence
Angela Rayner quits after ￡40k stamp duty scandal as Labour on the brink
Keir Starmer told to stop Angela Rayner getting golden goodbye of nearly ￡17,000
Good Morning Britain halted for huge Angela Rayner update as ITV fans rage
Keir Starmer releases Angela Rayner statement and promises 'I will act'
Full list of every Labour minister who has quit since Keir Starmer became Prime Minister
David Lammy replaces Angela Rayner after bombshell resignation
Angela Rayner RECAP: Starmer sacks cabinet ministers as day of No.10 chaos goes on
Tone deaf Starmer 'determined' to save Angela Rayner over 'devastating' ￡40K tax bombshell
Ed Balls sticks knife into Angela Rayner in damning statement: 'Hypocritical!'
Keir Starmer breaks his silence on Angela Rayner's resignation
GMB star sparks backlash with Angela Rayner defence as she slams Nigel Farage
Labour civil war over deputy leader contest with Keir Starmer accused of 'stitch up'
Nigel Farage fires five-word warning to Labour after Angela Rayner quits
POLL: Has Angela Rayner done the right thing by resigning?
Angela Rayner debacle nothing to do with class - and her own words prove it
Angela Rayner's resignation letter in full as ￡40k stamp duty row explodes
BBC star Chris Packham sparks outrage as he backs disgraced Angela Rayner
Keir Starmer quote resurfaces as he faces calls to sack Angela Rayner
Sky News chaos as Sophy Ridge pulled off air in No10 sound disaster: 'Call the gallery!'
Laura Kuenssberg fans 'switch off' in minutes over bizarre Angela Rayner defence
Angela Rayner quits after ￡40k stamp duty scandal as Labour on the brink
Keir Starmer told to stop Angela Rayner getting golden goodbye of nearly ￡17,000
Good Morning Britain halted for huge Angela Rayner update as ITV fans rage
Keir Starmer releases Angela Rayner statement and promises 'I will act'
Full list of every Labour minister who has quit since Keir Starmer became Prime Minister
There will be some who simply don’t like Rayner (or her politics) who will relish her downfall. I’m not one of them. I’ve interviewed her and bumped into her privately and I like her. She’s been a breath of fresh air in the stuffy room of Westminster politics, approachable and funny. She is clearly intelligent and I’m truly surprised she’s managed to screw up her private affairs so royally.
Perhaps if she’d headed up a different ministry... but rather like a deputy chief constable caught speeding on the motorway who blames a faulty satnav, it’s the juxtaposition of the job and the offence that jars.
How could Rayner make a speech attacking property tax dodgers again? Or any tax dodgers, come to that? But at 45 she’s young for a high-flying politician. A period munching grass, and my pound to your penny says she’ll be back.
SUBSCRIBEInvalid email
We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. Read our Privacy Policy