HOW terribly, gallingly predictable.
That Angela Rayner, the self-proclaimed Woman of the People, is no better than the wealthy, middle class “tax dodgers” she so despises.
Sky NewsTearful Angela Rayner admitted she has not paid enough stamp duty on her lovely new seaside third home[/caption]
AlamyThis time last year, it emerged Keir coined in £18,000 worth of free designer clobber and a nice array of spectacles[/caption]
The news that she didn’t pay enough stamp duty on her lovely new seaside third home – oh to have a third home! Even a second! – is this new-new Labour all over.
She has, she says, referred herself to the ethics watchdog. Which is all rather horse and bolted.
Her tears today were crocodile ones.
This is a woman, the Housing Secretary no less, who not only knows the rules, she helps make them.
To suggest she was poorly advised is no excuse. She, quite literally, has a team of special advisers and financial experts, at her disposal.
Why didn’t she use them? And if she didn’t use them, what does that say about their ability?
Instead she sought legal advice – presumably paid for – just like every wealthy tax avoider in history. Most people, after all, cannot afford tax advisers, wouldn’t even know how to go about finding one.
Ignorance, in her case, is no excuse.
Only last year our moralistic Deputy PM unveiled a new National Planning Policy Framework in a move designed to strengthen requirements for more affordable homes in areas of need.
Writing piously for the left-leaning Observer, she said that since entering government ministers had found a “frankly scandalous legacy” lurking “under each stone we lift”.
She added: “In the death throes of the clapped-out Conservative government, they gave up on governing and compounded their housing failure.”
And yet, 14 months later, here she is.
Sobbing on national TV, admitting she has shorted government coffers by a cool £40,000.
Kemi Badenoch, pouncing on this delightful open goal, immediately called for Sir Keir Starmer to “show some backbone” and fire her.
But, of course, he can’t and won’t.
After all, the PM loves a freebie as much as her.
This time last year it emerged he’d coined in £18,000 worth of free designer clobber and a nice array of spectacles.
Yet his myopia remains.
GettyAngela’s latest purchase is a luxury three-bedroom flat near Brighton[/caption]
AlamyIn her most recent expenses declaration, Rayner classified her home in her Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancs, constituency as her main residence[/caption]
He has already given Ms Rayner his backing, placing a protective hand on her shoulder during PMQ’s, and telling the commons he was “very proud” to work with her.
Sir Keir, then, is backing this bolted horse.
Labour’s hypocrisy never fails to astound.
Champagne socialism at its finest – although, in Ange’s case, a vat of Provence rose, and a vape does the job.
Since seizing power, food bank loving Labour’s noses have rarely been out of the collective trough.
Be it free tickets for Taylor Swift gigs, or insisting they’re not the party of austerity whilst retaining the two-child cap and removing the pensioners’ Winter Fuel Payment. They just love playing the system. And that’s what irks.
It is what infuriates the British people – those struggling to put food on the table, whilst dutifully abiding by the rules.
Let’s not forget that Angela (a self-starting politician I have previously admired in so many ways) previously demanded ex-Tory Chairman Nadhim Zahawi be sacked after the revelation that his tax affairs were under investigation by HMRC.
It is all, as my old form tutor used to say, just very disappointing.
Labour have back-tracked, U-turned and flip-flopped time and time again after angering the hard-working, decent voter who thought they were backing the party of kindness and decency.
Angela Rayner doesn’t wish to engage with newspapers like The Sun – which is entirely her prerogative – yet she remains outraged and defensive when papers like The Sun call her out.
At a time of national crisis, she has let herself down – and those who can only dream of owning second homes – down.
She has to go. But she won’t.
The PM loves a freebie too, like Taylor Swift ticketsTwitter
PAKemi Badenoch, pouncing on this delightful open goal, immediately called for Sir Keir Starmer to ‘show some backbone’ and fire her[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
