Angela Rayner has said Sir Keir Starmer should “reflect” on whether to resign after a bruising week for his premiership. It comes after the former deputy prime minister announced she has been cleared of deliberate wrongdoing in an investigation over her tax affairs. The decision could pave the way for Ms Rayner to make a potential leadership bid. In an interview with The Guardian she did not rule out running in any Labour leadership race but said she would not “trigger” a contest.
The MP for Ashton-under-Lyne said the investigation into her underpayment of stamp duty, which led to her departure from government, had “clipped her wings”. It comes amid reports Wes Streeting is ready to stage a leadership challenge, despite the prime minister stating he retained “full confidence” in the health secretary on Wednesday. Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham also pulled out of his weekly radio slot to “prioritise discussions arising from last week’s local elections,” his spokesperson said.
After the King’s Speech, the prime minister and loyal cabinet ministers spent the evening meeting with Labour MPs in the hope of securing support, warning colleagues “not to plunge the party into chaos”. Scottish secretary Douglas Alexander said there had been “twists and turns” in the Labour Party’s leadership “drama”, but stressed there was no bid as yet to oust the prime minister.
Mr Alexander said: “For all the headlines, there is a process by which a challenge to the Labour Party leadership can be conducted, and that process hasn’t been triggered.” Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland’s Breakfast programme, the Scottish MP accepted “these are difficult days” for the party across the UK after last week’s poor election performance. But he said the prime minister had been “clear” that he accepted responsibility for the “very bad set of results”.
Mr Alexander added: “The prime minister has my support, I am a member of the Cabinet. I think for all of the speculation, for all of the headlines, it’s worth holding on to the fact we’ve seen twists and turns in this drama even in recent days. There’s a process by which a challenge to the Labour Party leadership can be conducted, and that process simply hasn’t been triggered this morning.”
Chief secretary to the treasury James Murray said he hoped Wes Streeting would still be health secretary by the end of Thursday and warned against a “chaotic process of uncertainty”. Asked whether Mr Streeting was still in post, amid speculation that he will quit, Mr Murray told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “He is the Health Secretary, and I hope he is the Health Secretary by the end of the day.”
Mr Murray also warned against a leadership contest, saying: “I would say to all colleagues, take a deep breath. Take a step back. Make sure that we recognise we’re less than two years into this Parliament. Look at what we’ve done so far. Look at the benefits of the stability that we brought to government, make sure that we don’t go into a chaotic process of uncertainty, and make sure we focus on what people want us to be doing.”
Andy Burnham is said to be looking for a seat to run in to allow him back into parliament to stand to be leader of the Labour Party. There had been some hope that previous positive comments about him by Green leader Zack Polanski would mean the Greens would not oppose Mr Burnham in a by-election and give him a clear run. But The Independent has been told that the Greens would not stand aside having seen victory in the recent Gorton and Denton by-election in Manchester.
A senior Green source said: “Gorton and Denton demonstrated that actually it's the Greens now who can stop Reform. [With regards to Mr Burnham] it will depend on the seat and crossing that bridge when we come to it.” However, the seat suggested overnight, Manchester Rusholme, is currently projected to go to the Greens from Labour in an election. Labour MP for the seat Afzal Khan has also denied he plans to stand down for Mr Burnham.
Tax officials have issued a brief comment after Angela Rayner said she has been cleared after an investigation into her affairs. When asked about Ms Rayner’s case, HMRC said: “We cannot comment on individuals due to taxpayer confidentiality law.”
There has been some suggestion Angela Rayner sat on the news she has been cleared by HMRC to undermine a leadership challenge by Wes Streeting. An ally said that the issue was “only just resolved” and that the investigation into her tax affairs has been “so long and gruelling”. The news though does potentially free up the former deputy prime minister to enter the leadership campaign if there is one without a cloud over head. Allies of Mr Streeting suggested the health secretary would resign from the government today and launch a leadership challenge against Sir Keir Starmer. An ally of Ms Rayner suggested Mr Streeting “will be choking on his cornflakes” this morning, adding: “Sometimes the Lord moves in mysterious ways.”
Angela Rayner has said Wes Streeting will need to “justify his actions” if he chooses to launch a leadership bid against Sir Keir Starmer. “I do understand my colleagues and why they’re angry and upset,” she said in an interview with The Guardian. “I do understand why we’re having this conversation now, but we need to get through that as quickly as possible.”
The Manchester MP at the centre of rumours over giving way for Andy Burnham to return to Westminster has denied any plans to stand down. Afzal Khan, the MP for Manchester Rusholme, told Sky News the speculation around his seat was a "fake rumour". "I am not giving [up] my seat" he said.
The chancellor told reporters she would set out plans to support families and businesses struggling with the impact of war in the Middle East next week. She said: “Very strong numbers today that show that the economy grew strongly in the first quarter of this year, showing decisively that this plan is the right one to get our economy growing in all parts of the country. And it shows that when this conflict in the Middle East started, our economy was growing strongly. This was not a war that we started. It is not a war that we have joined, and it’s not one that this government agrees with. But today’s number shows that when that conflict began, our economy was growing strongly. And because of today’s numbers and the growth that we’ve seen in the economy, next week I will be able to set out more plans to support families and businesses with the challenges that have come from this conflict in the Middle East. I look forward to setting those out next week.”
