Readers debate faith in Starmer, the public’s motivations to vote out the Tory government and Farage’s ironic defence of swan welfare

Readers debate faith in Starmer, the public’s motivations to vote out the Tory government and Farage’s ironic defence of swan welfare

Readers debate faith in Starmer, the public’s motivations to vote out the Tory government and Farage’s ironic defence of swan welfare

In MetroTalk: Starmer is questioned over judgement failures, more on Rayner stepping down as Deputy PM and England flags put up in Dartford are defended

In MetroTalk: The Rail, Maritime and Transport Union faces scrutiny, more on Rayner’s stamp duty affair and Metro’s cover reflects society

Angela Rayner stepped down as Labour deputy leader at the same time she departed as Deputy Prime Minister.

Jeremy Clarkson has faced a backlash after suggesting that taxpayers had funded former Deputy PM Angela Rayner’s ‘entire life’.

Wes Streeting is the current favourite to replace Angela Rayner.

Nigel Farage has hit out at Angela Rayner at the Reform Party conference after she quit as Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary.

The MP for Clacton-on-Sea said her decision to resign over her tax affairs ‘screams to entitlement’.

‘It screams to a government that despite all the promises that this would be a new, different kind of politics is as bad – if not worse – than the one that went before,’ he said on stage at the Birmingham NEC.

He added Sir Keir Starmer’s Cabinet was full of ‘wholly unqualified people’ and joked about Rayner being ‘an accomplished property developer and speculator’.

Farage was originally lined up to speak just after 4pm today, but said he pulled his speech forward after Rayner’s resignation because the Government is ‘deep in crisis’ and ‘not fit to govern’.

But Metro understands this wasn’t widely advertised to attendees of the conference, meaning people were spotted leaving the main hall just moments before Farage took to the stage.

Empty seats were also seen as he began talking. However, some people began to return to the hall after he started his speech.

Farage also said there was a ‘big rift’ in the Labour party and he thinks a general election could take place in 2027.

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‘We’re used to hearing stories of splits in the Conservative Party. We’re about to witness a big rift in the Labour Party, too,” he told party members in a keynote speech in Birmingham.

He added: ‘Before long, there’ll be Labour MPs that reckon they’ve got a better chance on the Jeremy Corbyn sectarian ticket … they’ve got a better chance of being re-elected under that ticket, under Corbyn, than they do under Sir Keir.’

He went on: ‘I think there is every chance now of a general election happening in 2027.’

The next election is scheduled to take place no later than August 2029. Labour has not indicated an election will be called earlier.

Analysis: How Farage’s speech went down with the crowd

By Craig Munro, Metro’s Senior Politics Reporter

Reform UK has made a lot of its efforts to professionalise since the general election, and this one moment of spontaneity did backfire a bit.

I’d heard Nigel Farage’s speech was being brought forward by several hours, but the people in front of me hadn’t – they left their seats empty, and didn’t come back.

For the people who stayed, though, the leader’s speech seemed to be everything they wanted.

Last year, Farage’s climactic address at the party conference was weirdly downbeat, as if he couldn’t quite find his stride. Not this time.

He hit all the right notes for the Reform fans in the room, with the biggest cheers coming for his mention of the ‘Operation Raise the Colours’ flag campaign and a call to end prosecutions of British soldiers over actions in Northern Ireland.

Perhaps the moment that brought the most uncertain reaction was his introduction to the stage of ex-Tory culture secretary Nadine Dorries.

Conference attendees who I spoke to earlier on were not exactly unanimous in their approval for the defection, though they acknowledged she brings experience.

The theme of the conference is ‘next steps’, and Farage explained Dorries will be integral to those. During his speech, he revealed she’ll be a key figure in Reform’s new ‘department of preparing for government’.

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She previously apologised for the error.

The row continues.

Rayner faces backlack over stamp duty, Starmers PMQ defences and more on pay-as-you-go tickets.

The deputy Prime Minister has come under fire after she admitted yesterday she had mistakenly underpaid stamp duty tax on her £800,000 Hove flat.

Angela Rayner has climbed from childhood in poverty to the top government job – but now she is being called to resign after admitting she did not pay the correct amount of stamp duty on her flat.

Rayner became the new deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary when Sir Keir Starmer and Labour beat the Tories in a landslide election victory last year.

But yesterday, she faced criticism after admitting she underpaid stamp duty tax on her £800,000 seaside flat in Hove after receiving ‘incorrect’ legal advice.

While several senior Labour party politicians – including Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves – have thrown their support behind Rayner, calls are intensifying for her to be sacked or to resign.

What else is there to know about Angela Rayner? We take a look below.

Who is Angela Rayner?

Angela Rayner is Labour’s deputy leader, the Housing Secretary and an MP.

She has been the MP for Ashton-under-Lyne in Greater Manchester since 2015 and identifies as a socialist on the soft-left of the party.

Want to know more about the government and how their policies affect you?

Hello, I’m Craig Munro and I’m Metro‘s man in Westminster.

Every Wednesday, I write our Alright, Gov? newsletter with insights from behind the scenes in the Houses of Parliament – and how the decisions made there will end up affecting you.

In last week’s newsletter I wrote about the potential ramifications of the Epping hotel decision and whether or not we should be worried about taxes going up.

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Born and raised on a council estate in Stockport in extreme deprivation, she left school at the age of 16 pregnant, without any qualifications.

She became a child carer before junior school for her mum, who had bipolar disorder and a developmental disability and who couldn’t read or write, according to British Vogue.

Following some time at a local further education college, she trained in social care and later became a social worker providing one-on-one care to elderly people in their homes.

She was put forward by her workmates to speak for them as a union rep for Unison and at the same time joined the Labour party.

Rayner soon rose through the ranks of the trade union movement and became the most senior elected official of Unison in the north west of England.

In 2015, she became the first woman MP for Ashton-under-Lyne in its 100-year history.

Under former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, she went on to hold the position of shadow pensions minister, before becoming a member of the shadow cabinet as shadow education secretary.

She was elected deputy leader of the Labour Party in March 2020 and also holds roles of shadow deputy prime minister and shadow levelling up secretary.

How many children does Angela Rayner have and how old are they?

Rayner married Mark Rayner in 2010, but the pair separated in 2020.

She had her first son called Ryan at the age of 16 with her then-boyfriend, Neil Batty, who was 19.

She has two other sons with her former husband Mark Rayner, Charlie, who was born prematurely, and Jimmy.

She became a grandma at the age of 37 when her first child, Ryan, had a baby daughter.

A colleague reportedly affectionately dubbed her ‘Grangela.’

Her youngest, Jimmy and Charlie, are now in their teens, while Ryan is 27.

The media started reporting that Rayner was in a relationship with Labour MP Sam Tarry, but she said they split up in 2023.

Who is Angela Rayner’s son, Charlie?

In an interview with Rayner last year, the Guardian reported that Charlie Rayner was born at 23 weeks prematurely, weighing just 465g, and he is epileptic and registered blind.

Rayner has previously spoken about the struggles the parents of disabled children face, telling Vogue she knows what it is like to ‘having to fight the system constantly.’

Underpaying stamp duty

The deputy PM admitted she underpaid stamp duty on her seaside flat in Hove, saying the ‘mistake’ was due to incorrect advice from her lawyers.

Reports claim she might have saved up to £40,000 on stamp duty on the Hove apartment. But because it is classed as a second home, it would have been liable for the higher stamp duty rate rather than the standard rate for first homes.

She said the mistake came after she moved her share of ownership of the family home in Ashton into a trust to manage a payment to her son, Charlie, and her children as beneficiaries to ensure their ‘long-term security.’

Rayner said she was told this move meant the Ashton home was no longer considered as her first home, and she could list the Hove flat as her only dwelling, the Guardian reports.

She has now referred herself to the Prime Minister’s ethics advisor and has instructed a tax advisor to work out the tax she needs to pay.

Rayner said she ‘deeply’ regrets the ‘error that has been made.’

She said in a statement: ‘The arrangements I have set out reflect the reality that family life is rarely straightforward, particularly when dealing with disability, divorce and the complexities of ensuring your children’s long-term security. Every decision I have made has been guided by what I believe to be in my children’s best interests.’

Will Angela Rayner resign?

So far in the controversy, Sir Keir has stood by Rayner, but the issue is unlikely to blow away anytime soon.

Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the Conservatives and the opposition, urged the Prime Minister to sack Rayner, saying is he had ‘any backbone’ he would do so.

The shadow Chancellor, Sir Mel Stride, said that if Rayner wants to ‘make the rules, she should live by them.’

Reeves said she has ‘full confidence’ in Rayner, adding: ‘She’s a good friend and a colleague she has accepted the right stamp duty wasn’t paid.

‘That was an error, that was a mistake. She is working hard now to rectify that, in contact with HMRC to make sure that the correct tax is paid.’

Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary, declined to say this morning whether Rayner would still be in her job at Christmas.

Speaking to LBC this morning, Phillipson said she would not ‘speculate on or pre-judge’ the ethics adviser’s investigation.

She said: ‘We’ve got a process that’s under way with the independent adviser.

‘I’m not going to get into hypotheticals or speculate. I’m sorry to disappoint you. I’m just not going to do it. That process will run its course.’

Meanwhile, the Lib Dem leader Ed Davey, who is the father of a disabled child, said: ‘I understand it is normally the role of opposition leaders to jump up and down and call for resignations – as we’ve seen plenty of from the Conservatives already.

‘Obviously if the ethics adviser says Angela Rayner has broken the rules, her position may well become untenable.

‘But as a parent of a disabled child, I know the thing my wife and I worry most about is our son’s care after we have gone, so I can completely understand and trust that the Deputy Prime Minister was thinking about the same thing here.

‘Perhaps now is a good time to talk about how we look after disabled people and how we can build a more caring country.’

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For more stories like this, check our news page.

‘I deeply regret the error that has been made. I am committed to resolving this matter fully and providing the transparency that public service demands.’

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