Angela Rayner says she will 'step down' if she is found to have committed a crime
The deputy Labour leader says she is "completely confident" she has followed all the rules as Greater Manchester Police reopens its investigation into her living arrangements before she became an MP.
Angela Rayner has said she will "do the right thing and step down" if she is found to have committed a crime in the police investigation into her former living arrangements.
It would be no surprise if she merely misunderstood the capital gains tax issue, but in a party of tax fetishists which has promised to enjoy a crackdown on legal tax avoidance, the "right thing" is the only thing.
There is another issue which will probably be ignored by the Metropolitan Language Police, but what does "step down" mean is a world of "levelling up"? Surely she means she'll step aside. Or even step up into real life.
7 comments:
I thought that the police had already said that there was no case to answer regarding tax, but were now investigating whether she had broken electoral laws with a false declaration about residence. Either way, a woman who looks like a blowsy thick barmaid in a sit-com should be able to find alternative employment in Labour's low-skill economy.
I usually interpret such headlines as meaning the rozzers have assured her they can disguise the fact that she has committed a crime.
A sign of the times, perhaps, and of Rayner’s values that she talks of doing ‘the right thing’ by stepping down if she is found to have broken the law yet she seems to find nothing reprehensible in unnecessarily occupying two separate houses while making speeches about the ‘desperation’ of families who cannot find a proper home because of the chronic housing shortage.
Sam - a tax expert I read said she almost certainly does owe some tax, but maybe that would merely be an HMRC issue and she'd only step down if convicted on the electoral law issue.
dearieme - it does look like a hint. Maybe the rozzers like the idea that she'll owe them one afterwards.
Macheath - I hadn't looked at that aspect, but you have certainly hit another nail on the head. Dwell on it for too long and the hypocrisy is quite depressing.
I read this elsewhere, which is an insight into Labour rules which I'd never realised.
"“Actually if Labour won an election she would probably be out of a job as Cabinet roles are in the sole gift of the Prime Minister, including the role of Deputy Prime Minister IF he chooses to have one. True she is the democratically elected deputy leader but currently has no official paid Parliamentary position other than as a MP, unlike Starmer who is paid to be Leader of the Opposition. If Starmer became PM he could send Crayons to the back benches or even to the Lords and there is nothing that she or the Labour party could do about it.”
h/t Ex Observer."
Scrobs - yes he could ignore her, but as ever I suppose he'll have to take account of her support among MPs and party members. Must also depend on how her legal and tax troubles go, but probably not a decision he relishes.
What dearieme said.
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