Would you vote for Angela Rayner?

[WildEnergySupplier]

Sounds like she's throwing her hat in the ring.

She says she's paid off the tax she owes and is no longer under investigation.

This apparently means she's free to run - and is going to.

@Araminta1003Yes, she is an exception. I think it’s a very good thing to have exceptions to show that it CAN be done.

I completely agree. The value of formal education is undermined by the number of young people who are economically inactive and new graduates who can’t find work, not a single successful politician.

So @CurlewKate and @blossomtoes - you see no value in formal education?
What next?

I thought it was a Labour principle that schools are underfunded and we need more money not less into state education! I thought Labour are on the side of schools and state school teachers.

Neither of us have said that, have we? There’s currently a youth employment crisis and a record low in entry level graduate jobs. What we really need is a programme of sustainable employment when education concludes.

After she left school Angela Rayner was supported by Sure Start and attended college.

How does that mean she or other poster see no value in formal education?

Definitely not

Not sure how you got there from what I said. Of course I see value in formal education. I also see value in there being routes for people who for whatever reason don’t have it. I don’t want my doctor to have no formal education. I don’t necessarily insist that my MP has one. Getting there without suggests a level of determination, hard work, guts and desire that Oxbridge, being a SPAD and a safe seat do not demonstrate, even if those qualities are present.

“Not sure how you got there from what I said. Of course I see value in formal education. I also see value in there being routes for people who for whatever reason don’t have it. I don’t want my doctor to have no formal education. I don’t necessarily insist that my MP has one. Getting there without suggests a level of determination, hard work, guts and desire that Oxbridge, being a SPAD and a safe seat do not demonstrate, even if those qualities are present.”

@CurlewKate We can talk about doctors if you like, because the NHS and doctor strikes are rather topical.

So doctors have GCSEs, A level, 5 year degree, years of training and professional exams.

And you want someone with NO GCSEs to be in charge and navigate that and the NHS crisis?

No thank you.
I have explained it again and again.

All obfuscation around PPE and uni degree levels are not even relevant at this point.
We are talking basic standards of expectation which we expect of our young and which the entire world expects of their leaders. There is no amount of obfuscating you can do to get around the fact that Angela Rayner has had 20 years to do some GCSEs and a couple of A levels.

"There is no world leader who did not finish their secondary education."

Errr...Trump? He may have been through some expensive private education in the US but he's obviously unqualified and barely literate.
I'm not suggesting for one minute that this is a good thing.

@Araminta1003yes-you have explained your view again and again- I just don’t happen to agree with you. Secretaries of State and Ministers very rarely have direct experience of the brief they are taking on- they have advisers and specialists to call on for “subject knowledge” Ironically, Rayner has more experience of the care system than most of her colleagues. She also benefitted from the late lamented Sure Start- something else that marks her out. But that’s beside the point. I don’t think a medical professional has ever been SofS for Health.

@beguilingeyes - are you unable to use Google?!

Trump has an Econ degree from an Ivy League - UPenn.

Wondering who is lacking basic reading comprehension skills.

There are a lot of questions about Trump and Penn, his academic performance there has never been made public.

As you would be aware of when googling.

I could sit an English language GCSE tomorrow and score highly. I could pass a Maths one and with a bit of study, I could get the top grade. Like most professionals. I could easily fit in some A levels as well as my job and my 4DC if I needed to.
So are some of you implying Angela Rayner couldn’t possibly do that? Why not?

And what is with the whataboutery again- now Trump.

Seriously what is wrong with you people and blaming others and Tories and the man on the moon. To detract from basics.

I am not comfortable with someone who hasn’t got GCSEs, or A levels even, navigating an NHS or university crisis. Full of professionals with all the qualifications.
Nor am I comfortable on the world stage for reasons I have explained. And I am most definitely not the only one who thinks like this.

I think Angela Rayner could pass both. I actually doubt that I could pass maths any more.

I also think that if Trump is being used as an example of the necessity of a degree in a political leader the argument is lost.

Whataboutery about Trump is because you brought up world leaders.

Trump qualifies according to your criteria, does he make a good president 🤔

I am not implying that Rayner could not pass an English or Maths GCSE exam, where do you get that from?

And you know the reason why she doesn't have the qualifications.

She however does have the experience.

No, met her, was appalled by her behaviour.

What did she do?

Absolutely not.

I used to respect her because she had climbed up through the ranks and had principles.

Unfortunately she is just like the rest of them. The unpaid stamp duty was disgraceful. Just because she has now paid it absolutely does not erase the fact that she deliberately tried to get out of paying the proper rate. And ignorance isn’t a defence here - a cabinet minister for housing cannot claim ignorance over this issue.

I am not sure why you are willing to overlook this OP. It wasn’t avoidance, it was actually evasion and I am surprised she has actually got away with it.

She then started whinging on about having a dc with ASD. Well, plenty of us have kids with ASD, me included. What tax does that get me out of paying? The Labour Party gave no shits about the kids who’d been put into private schools because of their ASD and stood to suffer severe educational and life disruption due to the VAT. So why should we give a shit about her kid, aka her excuse for tax evasion.

stinks

Her son's diabilities are a bit more than ASD, you could look it up but as you don't give a shit , I doubt you will

maybe, but not someone with a history of tax evasion

She is officially cleared.

Tell us more.

I know that.

It does not change what she actually did. She evaded tax. Do you seriously think that’s ok in a leader?

Actually evaded. Unless you believe the ignorance defence, in which case being so ignorant means she’s not suitable for the job.

why are people not calling this tax evasion? She’s settled with HMRC, probably paid the tax and maybe a fine. But she did tax evasion!!!!!!!!!

She has been cleared by HMRC of deliberate wrongdoing or carelessness over her tax affairs and has paid the tax owed.

No fine was imposed.

I do agree that she should have sought expert tax advice, not doing that was a massive mistake.