Keir Starmer has refused to promise that Angela Rayner will keep her job as Deputy Prime Minister. The Prime Minister’s spokesman insisted he could not speculate about Ms Rayner’s future, after she admitted underpaying stanp duty on a £800,000 flat in Hove. It was a stark contrast with Sir Keir’s willingness to back other Cabinet Ministers when they were under pressure.
In November last year, the Prime Minister’s press secretary said Foreign Secretary David Lammy would remain in post until the next election at least, after Mr Lammy faced criticism for comments he once made about Donald Trump.
And Sir Keir said Rachel Reeves would remain chancellor “into the next election and for many years after” in July, after she was seen crying in the House of Commons.
The Prime Minister’s spokesman was asked this morning: “Will the Prime Minister commit to Rayner, the Deputy Prime Minister, staying in post for the rest of the Parliament, as he has for David Lammy and Rachel Reeves?”
He replied: “I’m not going to go through the Cabinet and do that. You have the Prime Minister’s words in the House yesterday, he said that she followed the right course of action and expressed his pride in her work as his deputy.”
However he said Sir Keir has “full confidence” in Ms Rayner. Sir Keir Starmer was kept informed “as appropriate” about the steps Angela Rayner had taken over her tax affairs, the Number 10 spokesperson has said.
Downing Street faced repeated questions from journalists about what the Prime Minister knew about his deputy’s tax affairs and when, after a series of conflicting statements from different figures in Government.
A No 10 spokesman said on Thursday: “The Prime Minister was kept updated on steps that the Deputy Prime Minister has taken, as was appropriate.
“As soon as that final legal opinion was received by the Deputy Prime Minister on Wednesday morning she immediately took steps to self-refer herself to the IA (independent adviser), and she updated the Prime Minister at the earliest opportunity as well.”
Asked if Sir Keir believed Ms Rayner had been transparent with him, the spokesman said: “The Prime Minister has been updated on the steps that the Deputy Prime Minister has taken – you’ve got his words from yesterday in the House when he said she has gone over and above in setting out the details.”
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson also today declined to say whether Angela Rayner would still be Deputy Prime Minister at Christmas.
Asked whether Ms Rayner would still be in the role, the Education Secretary told LBC she would not “speculate on or pre-judge” the outcome of an investigation by the Prime Minister’s ethics adviser.
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.”
Chancellor Rachel Reeves said she had “full confidence” in Angela Rayner and described her as a “good friend and colleague”.
She told broadcasters: “Yes, I have full confidence in Angela Rayner. 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.
“Anyone that saw Angela’s statement yesterday, saw her interview yesterday, I think will have a lot of sympathy with some of the challenging family circumstances around this, around Angela’s disabled son, but of course, it is right that people pay their right amount of tax.”