Angela Raynor - a thread for sane centre left/lefties

It does make one wonder about her level of intelligence, and who was advising her on her own financial matters. Tax affairs are not always straightforward, as in this case, and it rather looks as though she believed what she wanted to believe instead of asking an expert.

Dream on OP. Reform are eating Labour’ lunch while these Labour liars are being exposed as crooks and thieves.

I thought this was a thread for sane lefties. **ck off racist reformers!

While I agree with lots of what you've said - I'm not keen on Streeting. I would much prefer to see Andy Burnham he is much more charismatic and has done great things in Manchester. I know he needs to be an MP etc. but if Johnson can make the switch from Major of London to Prime Minister, I don't see why Andy couldn't

Yes Ibthink health is too big, and he should keep it. He also has a wafer thin majority so may need to find a new constituency.

I find this story really fascinating because it illustrates so many different problems with our system. FWIW I think she had to resign and I’m glad she did. I have never personally warmed to her very much, and I think calling Tories ‘scum’ at a late night conference event is an example of her being a bad politician, frankly. But I also think her personal story is admirable and inspiring. I hope she comes back a bit humbler and a bit wiser.

What I think is worth pointing out is that so many things about UK law are written with a ‘cookie cutter’ person in mind - average or above average salary, married with kids, owns a home, is employed, etc. (and, frankly, is a man). And actually, that describes a minority of people in this country, and so many of us struggle with laws and regulations that weren’t written with us in mind. Rayner is one example of a politician struggling with this (divorced, child with complex needs, blended family). Another was David Laws, who had to resign from the Coalition government because he had been concealing financial details so that his 80yo mother wouldn’t find out he was gay.

i’m really struck by how many people on MN have been saying ‘she should have known to consult a specialist trust tax lawyer!’ Like - if you’re from a wealthy background, or you are yourself now wealthy, that probably seems like a reasonable sentence. I’m in my 50s, quite smart, and not poor, and I had no idea there were such things as specialists in tax/trust law until 48 hours ago. If you’re from Rayner’s background (much, much more hard-scrabble than mine is), how would you ever know this? The little bit on your conveyancer’s letter saying ‘we recommend you seek further specialist professional advice’ is just white noise to most of us - yeah, yeah, you want me to pay someone else thousands when I’m already paying you thousands, jog on. (Is what I would have thought if I’d seen it.)

I’m so frustrated with her for not being more careful. But I think there’s a really big, structural problem here, which is that nothing about British government is set up to support people who come from any kind of non-standard background. And that’s really structurally unfair.

Also, Streeting for PM. I’m afraid we need a Blair figure, and Streeting is the closest we have.

I thought the LP deputy PM was an elected post at Conference. Is that not the case?
David Lammy is an odd choice and sounds like a bit of a demotion. I thought it would be someone like Matthew Pennycock or Peter Kyle.

It's not in inevitable that Farage will get in labour have four years to turn it around.
Four years is a long time in politics and they're councils aren't doing very well .
Glad I'm in Scotland yes Reform Will make some gains but they're still deeply unpopular in Scotland.
There was a hotel protest in my home city 120 people involved out of a population of roughly 193,000 adults.
These bams are not as important as certain sections of the media would have us believe.

No. You will find that Rayner has done a pretty spectacular job of being the architect of her own demise. Truth hurts.

I liked Rayner a lot and thought she had to put up with a hell of a lot of snobbery and prejudice. Just look at most posts about her on here.
Based on the details I think this was a genuine mistake too rather than a deliberate dodge.
There really isn’t anyone else I respect in this government, I’m afraid. I really dread the Farage government that is surely now almost certain.

I couldn't agree more. As a strong woman that was authentic, she was a powerful opponent. I hope she comes back stronger.

Some seem that once they get in power they lose sight of how it all looks in the eyes of the public
who is going to complete the 1.5m houses now Angela has gone from housing

I think you might need to re-read what I wrote rather than what you think I wrote?!

The sentence you’ve highlighted was about ALL politicians regardless of right or left wing so your comment is nonsensical. We won’t tolerate dishonestly and lies from any politician no matter what party and we should not tolerate it. Unless of course you believe that some should be allowed to lie??!

Surely her hypocrisy is the issue given she went for others as she did. Name calling etc

No, this would be a dreadful idea, I'm really afraid reform will get in 😔

@mumofoneAloneandwell
Thank you for starting what is a a reasonably well-balanced thread (aside from a few posters). I am so fed up with the far right rhetoric on MN.

I don’t know if we will ever know the truth as to how much Angela was aware that her financial moves here were not above board, but I agree that under the circumstances she had no choice but to resign. I’m sorry as I quite liked her. The hypocrisy from the Tories/Reform is shocking.

Life long Labour voter here but yes she had to go. I admire her as someone who has used the opportunities which were open to her to pull herself up by her bootstraps in a way which not many could achieve. However you can't shout the odds about tax evasion/avoidance of others without making sure you are squeaky clean yourself. Even from the back benches she's been an MP long enough to have seen plenty of others across party go for dubious financial issues and she's a quick learner. learnt quickly what you can and can't say in the House for example and to have come so far so fast, holding her own amongst the wealthy, well connected and very well educated she can't be naive. Amongst her many top jobs she is housing secretary for goodness sake. Claiming she is misinformed on a house tax issue as Housing Secretary is hardly a good look. She should have checked and checked again. I fear she may have got a tiny bit greedy to choose the option she did without being absolutely certain sure. She has not only embarrassed herself but the Party which. gave her such tremendous opportunities and, despite her competence and rhetoric has let herself and others down. It's time to return to the Back Benches for now but I hope this is not the end of a successful parliamentary career for her.

Yvette Cooper with her 20-year history of throwing immigrants under the bus? She's the kind of MP who made me give up hope in the Labour Party.