Angela Rayner was mocked by Rishi Sunak at Prime Minister’s Questions today, just days after the police opened an investigation into her tax affairs.
Sunak demanded Starmer spend less time reading Liz Truss’s new book and “more time reading the deputy leader’s tax advice”.
This came after the Leader of the Opposition asked if the Prime Minister has “met anyone with a mortgage” who agrees with Truss’s plan for the economy.
Speaker Lindsay Hoyle was forced to interrupt the session and tell MPs to quieten down, as they jeered from the backbenches.
Sunak said: “He ought to spend less time reading that book and more time reading the deputy leader’s tax advice”.
PARLIAMENT TV
Asking his first question at PMQs, Starmer said: “I am privileged to be the proud owner of a copy of the former prime minister’s new book. It is a rare, unsigned copy. It’s the only unsigned copy. It’s quite the read.
“She claims the Tories’ chaos kamikaze budget, which caused chaos for millions, was the happiest moment of her premiership. Has the Prime Minister met anyone with a mortgage who agrees?”
Responding, Sunak said: “He ought to spend less time reading that book and more time reading the deputy leader’s tax advice”.
When MPs began jeering from the backbenches, Hoyle was forced to intervene, saying: “I want to get through PMQs.”
Starmer defended Rayner from Sunak’s jibes, saying the “billionaire Prime Minister” was “smearing a working-class woman” while his family had “used schemes to avoid millions of pounds of tax”.
He went on to list the people Truss had blamed for the “economic misery” her policies caused, including the governor of the Bank of England and the Office for Budget Responsibility.
The Labour leader added: “We even learn that the poor old lettuce was part of the deep state.
Starmer defended his deputy leader from Sunak’s jibes, saying the “billionaire Prime Minister” was “smearing a working-class woman”
PARLIAMENT TV
“Does the Prime Minister agree with me that it is actually much simpler than that, it was the Tories’ unfunded tax cuts, tens of billions of pounds of unfunded tax cuts, that crashed the economy and left millions paying more on their mortgages, wasn’t it?”
Sunak replied: “Everyone knows that two years ago I wasn’t afraid to repeatedly warn about what her economic policies would lead to, even if it wasn’t what people wanted to hear at the time.
“I was right then but I am also right now when I say that his economic policies would be a disaster for Britain.”
Last night it emerged that Rayner is now under investigation for multiple allegations, with the probe launched by Greater Manchester Police not limited to potential electoral law offences.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
While the MP for Ashton-under-Lyne has insisted she lived primarily in her own home, former neighbours said she was living with her husband just over a mile away.
Rayner, 44, has pledged to resign if she is found to have committed a crime but has said that she took expert legal and tax advice and was confident she had done nothing wrong.
Starmer has backed her but said he does not need to see the advice.
Rayner has denied any wrongdoing after seeking tax advice.
In a statement, she said: “I’ve repeatedly said I would welcome the chance to sit down with the appropriate authorities, including the police and HMRC, to set out the facts and draw a line under this matter. I am completely confident I’ve followed the rules at all times.
“I have always said that integrity and accountability are important in politics. That’s why it’s important that this is urgently looked at, independently and without political interference. I make no apologies for having held Conservative ministers to account in the past. Indeed, the public would rightly expect me to do so as a Deputy Leader of the Opposition.
“We have seen the Tory Party use this playbook before – reporting political opponents to the police during election campaigns to distract from their record. I will say as I did before – if I committed a criminal offence, I would of course do the right thing and step down. The British public deserves politicians who know the rules apply to them.
“The questions raised relate to a time before I was an MP and I have set out my family’s circumstances and taken expert tax and legal advice. I look forward to setting out the facts with the relevant authorities at the earliest opportunity.”
Emily Foster is a globe-trotting journalist based in the UK. Her articles offer readers a global perspective on international events, exploring complex geopolitical issues and providing a nuanced view of the world’s most pressing challenges.
