Angela Raynor - a thread for sane centre left/lefties

[mumofoneAloneandwell]

The tone on some of the other threads is very 'two tier keir' 'we need reform' 🤢🤢🤢

She had to go. Shame as I thought she was likeable

I remember when he tried to fire her before and she refused to be fired iirc 😭😭

Who will replace her? Who do you want to replace her?

I'm not arsed tbh, but needed a non faragey thread

Farage's name should be all over this now though. I wanna see the same focus and attention put on his tax affairs. Multiple Tory ministers got away with much worse without even apologising.

The hypocrisy surrounding this is off the scale. Badenoch gleefully posting about ministers having to do the right thing as leader of the Tory Party.... They can all just fuck off

I agree she had to go. I feel let down by the fact that I thought she was better. No idea who might replace her. I wish Yvette Cooper would take over from Starmer to be honest….she seems the most sensible out the lot of them. The media and public are so against Starmer now (rightly or wrongly) that I feel him remaining in charge is just damaging the party.

It does feel like Labour has been shooting itself in the foot from day one. It’s so disappointing as a think a lot of it is just their comms/perception, but also that they didn’t seem to sufficiently prepare before winning (and it was an entirely predictable win at least a year out).

The guardian is leading with Farage’s tax affairs but he seems to have a very Trumpian ability to let sins which would take others down, slide off him entirely so I’m sure it won’t have an impact.

'The hypocrisy surrounding this is off the scale.'

Couldn't agree more. It seemed like the Ministerial Code was being broken on a weekly basis at various points in Johnson's government. Unfortunately, 'they're at it too' is just not good enough. I'm really disappointed , and the crowing will be unbearable, but she should have made goddamn sure that everything was squeaky clean

I said a few days ago her position was untenable.

No idea re replacement

I had a lot of sympathy for Angela previously, I felt the press attacked her unfairly because she was female, northern and working class. With this controversy over her house/ tax affairs she has been foolish, arrogant to think she could get away with it. I agree with PP , I would love to see Yvette Cooper in charge, she seems solid.
I had such high hopes for this new labour government but they just can’t seem to get their act together.

Just proves it don’t matter where you came from once you’re part of the goverment you’re all as bad as each other!

A general election would be a good idea.

For what it’s worth I don’t trust Farage either. I trust none of them to run our country properly without doing their dodgy deals.

Farage has said "We are taking them down one by one" - he's right. I think Reform and their backers will do this to the entire government and either force a GE or just win the next one.

It's becoming inevitable that Reform will get in, set fire to regulatory rules and fuck the country up.

Give over. I absolutely do not condone what she has done but if we threw a GE everytime something like this happened we would have been at the polling stations every week with the last government

Yes, unfortunately, Labour tried to claim they were better than the Tories but it very quickly unravelled. Live by the sword, die by the sword.

'A general election would be a good idea'

Right. Who is it exactly that you're itching to vote for?

I just feel, despairingly, that they are just not that good at actual politics.

I disagree sharply with AR on gender issues but otherwise like her. I liked her taking on the Toryboys on her own terms, her warmth.

But this, it's just basic hygiene. If you are actual goddamn housing minister, and you have already had questions raised about your taxes, and you have criticised others on this.... you just do better. You check and double check. You manage the optics.

It's like the whole Lord Ali thing again. I do not care in the slightest if Starmer had a pair glasses bought for him or his son studied in a friend's flat. But for goodness sake, wouldn't you see how it looked? How much of a distraction it would be?

They're politicians! Optics is their job ffs.

I think it’s the right decision. It’s a shame, I think she’s a great asset to the Labour cabinet and it appears to be an honest mistake in very difficult and complex circumstances. But Labour promised us a government that acted with the integrity and accountability that was so lacking with the Tories and this is taking that responsibility.
I hope the press will now move onto the tax affairs of other politicians with such fervour, Farage’s tax avoidance on this Clacton ‘home’ or his dodgy GB News income arrangements for example. Won’t be holding my breath though.

Even if you think what she did was wrong, the scale of it is miniscule compared to the rank corruption of Farage and the Tories. COVID funding diverted in the hundreds of millions. Unfortunately people have short memories.

Let's not tempt fate. If people keep saying it's inevitable he'll get in it becomes more likely.

A general election would absolutely not be a good idea. All legislation grinds to a halt and IMO the best thing for the country at the moment is stability and allowing labour to get on with things.

Yes, Rayner has behaved disappointingly. She stepped down. She isn’t the entire government. Let’s move on.

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.

Oh yes? And who will you be voting for, I wonder?

There is no mechanism for an early general election unless the Labour party decide to call one, which is vanishingly unlikely. You can't just have another election every time you fancy it (despite the Tories using it to their advantage as best they could).

I’d always vote in the way most likely to remove or keep out Labour.

History has shown that to be the most sensible strategy for all voters and never more so than now.

Agree that Tories got away with much worse ( cue Track&Trace contracts). However, no party is particularly likeable or gives competence vibes. Btw, same is applicable to most advanced economies starting from the USA.

From Magnus’ letter to the PM

“But, he says this advice was qualified by the acknowledgment that it did not constitute expert tax advice - and suggested that this be obtained.
Without having sought this advice, Magnus says Rayner "cannot be considered to have met the highest possible standards of proper conduct”

Didn’t she claim that she sought expert tax advice? And then tried to throw the conveyancing firm under the bus?

Unfortunately, AR/Labour can’t just say but I am working class and what I have done is not as bad as the Tory upper class - she failed to do due diligence and so there is no alternative but to resign or be sacked.

Guardian reporting that Rayner's flat in Hove has been graffitied with 'Tax Evader Rayner' and, of course, 'bitch'. How absolutely disgusting

She had to go, and she has been very foolish and maybe even arrogant, but nobody deserves that. I'm amazed there are any women left in politics at all