I feel sad about Angela Rayner

[Neededa]

OK, I am left leaning so maybe I am already biased, BUT, I do feel sad that a woman who overcame early issues, who was “proper” working class, who didn’t speak the kings English, but rather with a proper local dialect, and achieved a high office without a single spoon in her working class mouth, has gone.

i do understand that many people will agree with what has happened. I would have been fuming if the story played out the way it had as a different party, and I understand that Angela had to go, BUT as a woman who believes in holding up other women, particularly those who aren’t born to certain families, or have expectations placed on them from word go, I do feel a bit sad this morning.

There was a working class woman in the House of Commons. A working class woman was the deputy prime minister of this country. It is not even 100 years since working class women could vote. I feel sad.

She did as we all do, she just chose to not do as advised for some reason.

I’m not sure that grocer was seen as middle class back in those days. And yes, she went to Oxford, but that was from a state school and entirely of the back of academic ability. Not sure that how she married is that relevant?

Likewise Starmer’s claim to have a working class background is equally suspect. A toolmaker maker was a skilled job, and owning the business hardly working class either.

It’s interesting to ponder of the two, who had the most middle class background. I reckon Starmer, as he benefitted from selective education and a family whose family business required more capital than running a grocery business. He also went into law. But I think John Majors background is probably less middle class than the pair of them. Modest beginnings, left school at 16 and didn’t go to university. The most relatable background to many people I’d guess.

newsflash you can still vote Labour and be wealthy.

Sure, but then rich Labour politicians and rich Labour voters shouldn’t criticise Tories for being wealthy and owning multiple properties.

AR fell into the trap of not wanting to pay a few thousand for specialist tax advice because she thought it didn’t matter. She lost her job because it turned out to be a terrible decision for her. As deputy PM she was a vital part of a government who are responsible for raising taxes and dealing with departmental budgets. Unfortunately, she demonstrated poor judgement and her mistake meant she had to go.

A family member deals professionally with tax matters relating to property, trusts and probate. She says that while most people happily spend thousands for lawyers to set up a trust, they are reluctant to pay extra for specialist tax advice until they receive a huge bill from HMRC!

Don't really care what class politicians are classified as just want some competence which haven't had since the 90s. She never lost an election so no evidence that voters would have got rid of her and even at a that time after 11 years was far more popular than Starmer after 1 year but the posh men mps hated her.

There was no 'carelessness'. Rayner made a calculated decision not to seek the correct advice after twice being advised to do so. That is stupidity.

That is not what happened. The legal advice recommended she take specialist tax advice. She didn’t and hoped for the best.

That was a woeful error of judgement, particularly given her government roles.

What makes it an even more astonishing error is the similar issues she had just over a year ago with the capital gains tax fiasco on another her council house.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-68885428.amp
She clearly didn’t learn from that experience.

Thar error of judgement demonstrates she was unfit for office.

I feel it's sad that her advisors should have made sure that things like this dont happen or are quickly rectified, I mean she must have been paying someone a lot of money to do their job and they clearly didnt.

Makes me think how Diane Abbot was torn to pieces over that interview where she jumbled up the numbers, and all her achievements went down the drain.
Sad times.

Of course they have access to this. They just have to pay for it, like the rest of us.

No people like Rayner never learn. She has been used by others as a politically convenient token wc person so has risen far above her capabilities for that reason only.

I dont. She forgot where she came from and thought she was untouchable as soon as she got a whiff of power and money, just like the rest
She was wrong.

She wasn’t popular a year into her first term.

Chris Collins, of the Margaret Thatcher Foundation, said: “This was the grimmest year of her tenure as Prime Minister. Politics in 1981 was dominated by the poor state of the economy; unemployment was rising (passing three million in January 1982) and continued rising for the next four years.

“In polling terms, support for the Conservatives dipped as low as a desperately poor 16pc. Thatcher’s net approval rating stood at minus 41 (the Government was minus 47). David Steel, by contrast, was plus 48.”

https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/thatcher-papers-reveal-her-grimmest-year

The gloating, and the gleeful tone about her wage reduction, in various newspapers today (eg the Telegraph) is making me feel very, very uneasy.

I’m not enjoying any part of this.

This isn’t correct. Which advisors are you blaming? Verrico or Shoosmiths?

Some misinformation already on this. Rayner got it wrong, no one else.

I feel sad Angela Raynor had to resign although she's still an MP though isn't she? Sorry I haven't RTFT.
What she has achieved considering her upbringing is incredible.
I'm still angry about what the Tories got up to during covid- parties at Downing Street when someone I knew had only 5 people at her husband's funeral.

Read again - I said she was more popular after 11 years than Starmer is after 1. I am well aware she was unpopular after 1 year but she turned it around as people saw her policies worked and then got massive votes of approval for three elections in a row. That won't happen to Starmer as his policies don't work and doesnt even have charisma as Thatcher did.

I agree
i understand why she had to resign, but there is a nasty undertone in some of the reporting. She has the audacity to be northern, working class and female and certain aspects of our (billionaire tax dodging male owned) press just don’t like that.
She’ll be back.

But you don't feel uneasy that Angela Rayner deliberately chose not to take specialist advice that resulted in her underpaying 40k of tax?

I think she should have double and triple checked properly. She knew she would be rightly so under scrutiny for something at some time. It's not enough to plead ignorance when the rest of us wouldn't get away with it.

But unlike Boris and the rest of them who got away with worse, it is our loss.

We’ll wait and see, shall we? I’ve been crucified here before for saying it but it was the Falklands that saved Thatcher - and, no I’m not suggesting that another war would be a good thing.

Also agree. I’ve never felt sad about a political resignation but I feel sad about this. I think she approached this issue wrongly (about paying the right amount of stamp duty), but I’m still really sad to see her go, and I also hate seeing how gleeful Nigel Farage is about it all 😠😠

I agree. I think it's really unfair that a working class woman is probably held to higher standards than her male, middle class peers (especially those on the other side of the house - can you imagine how Boris Johnson would have handled this?). Unfortunately they are, and she needed to be teflon to survive in this situation. I suspect she probably did have the right intentions, I just wish she'd gotten decent legal advice.

I think she was working class and became middle class. As has Rayner. Social class depends on the eyes of the beholder, of course. It shouldn’t matter if you are member of the landed gentry or from the roughest council estate though. Once you take a position in government, you grift at your own risk.