Angela Raynor still doesnt get it.

[ThisDandyWriter]

I’ve just read Angela’s Raynor’s statement about why Labour did so badly and what they need to do to change….aibu to think SHE STILL DOESNT GET IT!! Nothing mentioned about welfare, nothing mentioned about immigration-these are 2 subjects most talked about as the reasons why people didn’t vote for Labour.
she might not like it-but id they want to stay in power, they MUST tackle these subjects and not just ignore them because they dint fit her narrative.

No she wasn't.
She referred herself so she could get a definitive answer to her attempt to provide housing for her severely handicapped son. (He was very premature and is blind).

And yet here you are, posting busily on an Angela Rayner thread 🤷‍♀️

It’s faintly amusing that you turn to a rather personal attack in response to being proven wrong. It’s not your best look.

I grew up working part time jobs in the hospitality and retail industry. Zero hour contracts didn't exist. You had a part time job and that was the end of it, you worked your hours every week. If you had a quiet day, you had a quiet day, we were set to cleaning or sorting out stock rooms or whatever to earn our money instead. Zero hour contracts were pretty much born out of companies exploiting staff, especially women, keeps people in poverty and is why there are going to be changes soon regarding holiday pay etc. The only people that really seem to work ok with ZHC are students.

If a business is totally reliant on not paying for a member of part time staff when they have a quiet week then it's a shit business or badly managed and probably should go under rather than exploit workers. You seem to think that the businesses are the victims here?!

Not paying yourself much as an owner of new companies is normal, no medal from me there and has been the norm for years, way before Labour got involved.

While I agree taxes on businesses is hard for businesses it doesn't make it ok to exploit workers.

That’s not quite how HMRC see it.

As of May 2026, former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner is in discussions with HMRC to resolve an underpayment of approximately £40,000 in stamp duty from her £800,000 Hove flat purchase in May 2025. She resigned in September 2025 after it was found she wrongly paid a lower rate by failing to declare it a second home

She didn’t refer herself to HMRC, she was caught out by an investigation by the Telegraph. She may have referred herself to the Parliamentary watchdog, as failure to post tax due is a breach of ministerial code. Hence her resignation.

I reiterate, as Deputy PM, she had access to the best and most accurate tax advice available. She is aware of the scrutiny that comes with any public office. She is either unbelievably incompetent or dishonest.

They are not awaiting £40k payment. Angela referred herself to get a definitive answer to a very complex situation as she has had differing advice.

She gave her house in trust to her son as he is severely handicapped and needs to have secure housing. (He was born very prematurely and is blind.) It is a moot question whether he or she or the trust is the owner as he is still a minor.

Agree @Happyjoe . An ancient rule of starting business says: the first year, you pay for the business; the second year, the business should pay for itself, and in year three it starts to repay you. But it is always the owner of the business that goes short or takes nothing if times are lean.

And considering that most people who start businesses will have invested money they've saved out of earned income, or borrowed money, probably guaranteed by a charge over their home, most business owners and entrepreneurs feel they deserve some premium for the risk they have taken.

Zero hours contracts were born as a result of minimum wage.

bear in mind when I worked in a supermarket when I was in my teens I was paid £3 an hour. They no longer employ Saturday teenagers anymore like they used to as not cost effective. We were a small army of cheap resource who were happy to work the shifts the regular staff didn’t and were thrilled to get double pay on a Sunday. Still super cheap for the supermarket. Zero hours contacts emerged as a result of not being able to employ this cheap pool of labour

i keep hearing about this whole- if a business can’t afford to pay then they should go under. Then no one will have a job at all. That is the better solution? I find that baffling.

I reiterate, as Deputy PM, she had access to the best and most accurate tax advice available.

Her office as Deputy PM gave her no access to tax advice of any kind. It would have been quite improper for civil servants to give her advice on her private tax affairs. She would have needed to pay for professionals to give her tax advice just like anyone else.

I didn’t say she could get it for free.

I didn’t say she could get it for free.

You alleged that as Deputy PM she had her access to "the best and most accurate tax advice available" when her office as Deputy PM gave her no access to any tax advice.

I totally agree.

There's a place for zero hours or casual contracts but not in the mainstream. The place in my view is to cover holidays or supply teaching. My son worked for an agency which placed him into lifeguard jobs like supply teaching - when people needed a lifeguard they contacted the agency. That's where you use zero hours contracts. But you don't need them in retail.

They do employ teenagers on Saturday. Well at least my local Waitrose do as they have the great and efficient idea to put them on their cigarette/lottery counter even though they are under 18 and can't sell the products legally and always have to call someone over!

Also the minimum wage is currently still lower for youngsters.

They employ about 20 teenagers like they use to in my local Tescos ? I was on about £3 an hour, which I checked is probably about £6 an hour now. Minimum wage is about £8 for 16 year olds - that is 33% more expensive. I am amazed Waitrose employ so many teens but if that is happening local to you then great. My local Waitrose has about 4/5 people dotted around the store in around the checkouts as all self service. None are teens.

the fact is margins are very very tight for businesses at the moment. I just don’t think people genuinely realise how many businesses are on the brink of survival right now. You can suggest they don’t deserve to survive as that is fair assessment but if my business doesn’t survive that’s over 50 people unemployed. I genuinely don’t understand how people think that is better than having flexibility with zero hour contracts and lower pay for some employees. There isn’t a chance ever of utopia of high wages, high business rates, high Ni, high corp tax and a decent profit for most of the businesses in the UK.

How would her role as DPM give her access to the best and most accurate tax advice available? What is it about that role specifically that means she has access to the best, most accurate tax advice available?

We have the 4th lowest benefits bill in Europe. Even Latvia and Croatia spend more per capita. You are falling into the trap of blaming the most vulnerable people rather than the elite that are the main problem. There is 25 billion in unclaimed benefits. Look at the people above you, not below.

They are a right wing party. It's just that right wingers are clueless.

Very well said. Just to add, people in work also receive benefits - partly because their salaries aren’t high enough to cover the ever-increasing cost of living. The endless demonisation of benefits is so inaccurate and just pointless.

Yes, you would hope that at the top of government she would be able to ask around and do a bit of networking and find the best possible tax advisers. Are you seriously claiming she couldn’t?

I posted some stats last year showing how many asylum seekers we transferred to France under the Dublin Regulation and how many France transferred to us in return - bearing in mind that family connections and unaccompanied minors have a higher priority than 'first safe country' in any case. As you can see, very few were returned to France and they sent us more than we sent them:

Transfers of asylum seekers from the UK to France under the Dublin Regulation:
2017 - 10
2018 - 51
2019 - 53
2020 - 25

Transfers of asylum seekers to the UK from France under the Dublin Regulation:
2017 - 91
2018 - 92
2019 - 90
2020 - 219

How many asylum seekers first enter the EU via France - rather than via Greece, Italy, Spain, Poland, Hungary...?

You claimed that as Deputy PM she had access to the best possible tax advisers whereas there is no such ex officio access to tax advisers. Are you still claiming she did? It's quite OK to admiut you wre wrong.

@CornishDaughteroftheDawn I don't blame her for trying to secure her son's future with her riches but that's what we are all mostly trying to do !
And yet the labour party is punishing people for it.

It's annoying when this kind of comment comes up in here. UK citizens moving to other countries have to fit whatever criteria that country demands. I've lived in other countries for work, and had to have a job lined up, prove I could speak the language, have a medical, pay for health insurance, was checked re police records, show proof of savings, etc etc. All fine by me. No way could I force my way into those countries illegally and then be housed and supported at taxpayers' expense. Why the hell should the UK not apply the same rules? So, as stated by PPs, those leaving here are working, self supporting, often high earners - the opposite of the vast majority of illegal immigrants.

You seem to be unaware how Westminster and beyond works.

My family member is married to a former government minister. Their social and work network is A list and extremely comprehensive. If you are suggesting that as Deputy PM, Rayner does not have access to the full and very extensive network and can’t get linked up with the best tax advisor in London then you are saying she’s an utter failure as a politician. Politics is about networking.

As a politician she should understand that she will be scrutinised - it’s pure arrogance or gross incompetence to not take it heed adequate advice.

I don’t blame her for trying to secure her son’s current but her failure to pay tax due (especially after her previous issue either HMRC) is disgusting. She should never be in power again.

Well, for me it is about perspective. The government spend less than a half of a percent of total spending on asylum seekers. I think there are bigger fish to fry, hence, if a few people get through the system, the cost for the UK is so small it isn't worth bothering about.