Rishi Sunak says Diane Abbott decision shows Angela Rayner is really ‘in charge’ of Labour

Published

4 months ago

May 31, 2024

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Rishi Sunak has said the decision to let Diane Abbott stand for Labour at the general election shows it is Sir Keir Starmer’s deputy Angela Rayner who is really “in charge” of the party.

The prime minister said the row involving Ms Abbott – whom Sir Keir has said is now “free” to stand for Labour” – “just reconfirms what we know about Keir Starmer”.

Speaking to reporters from Bury, Mr Sunak said the Labour leader “constantly changes his mind” and added: “It’s clear that Angela Rayner is in charge of his party and not him.”

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Ms Abbott, the first black female MP, was finally given the Labour whip back earlier this week, theoretically paving the way for her to be the party’s choice in her London seat of Hackney North and Stoke Newington.

She was suspended from Labour and forced to sit as an independent in the Commons last year after she suggested Jewish, Irish and Traveller people experience prejudice, but not racism – remarks for which she later apologised.

However, questions remained over her future after The Times reported that she had been barred from standing for Labour again in her seat, which she has held consistently since 1987.

Following persistent questioning over Ms Abbott’s future, Sir Keir then said “no decision” had been taken on whether she would be barred – and that it was ultimately a matter for Labour’s ruling body, the National Executive Committee (NEC).

However, Ms Rayner then gave an interview with Sky News in which she said she did not think there was “any reason” why Ms Abbott could not stand as a Labour MP – applying pressure to Sir Keir.

She told political editor Beth Rigby on the Sky News Daily Podcast: “She’s gone through a process, that’s right… she apologised, as far as I’ve seen, that has been dealt with.

“The whip has told her that she’s back as a member of the Parliamentary Labour Party.

“I don’t see any reason why she can’t be a Labour MP.”

Ms Rayner also criticised the original report in The Times, which said Ms Abbott would not be endorsed as Labour’s candidate in Hackney North if she chose to contest the seat.

“What troubles me is these anonymous briefings,” Ms Rayner said.

“Keir absolutely despises them… he doesn’t like anything that looks trashy. He’s not that type of person so I know that he will be as frustrated as I am with these briefings.

“It doesn’t help anyone and it’s very disrespectful to Diane.”

The Labour leader then praised the veteran MP as a “trailblazer” when announcing she would stand again for the party, saying she had “carved a path for other people to come into politics and public life”.

But the Conservatives have seized on suggestions of a rift between Sir Keir and his deputy.

Richard Holden, the Tory chairman, tweeted a picture of the pair taking the knee in support of the Black Lives Matter movement from 2020.

“What Angela Rayner was actually doing here is now clear; teaching Sir Keir to take the knee to her as Labour’s first female leader,” he claimed on X.

“Fair play to Angela Rayner getting Sir Keir to perform yet another U-turn.”

Mr Sunak also made the same argument, telling reporters: “If he’s given in to Angela Rayner on this, imagine what he’ll give in to when it comes to the union’s demands for higher taxes or indeed weakening our defence and security.”

Ms Abbott has said she would not be making a comment until she is officially endorsed by the party’s ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) next week.

But she told Sky News that “the narrative does look positive”.

Politics

Lisa Nandy says Sir Keir Starmer ‘very sensible’ to accept football tickets worth thousands

Published

3 hours ago

September 21, 2024

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Lisa Nandy says Sir Keir Starmer 'very sensible' to accept football tickets worth thousands

Lisa Nandy has said Sir Keir Starmer’s decision to accept thousands of pounds worth of football tickets was “very sensible”.

The minister for culture, media and sport also said she had never accepted free clothes from a donor.

Speaking to Sky News at the start of the Labour Party conference today, the MP for Wigan said: “The problem that has arisen since [Sir Keir] became leader of the opposition and then prime minister is that for him to sit in the stands would require a huge security detail, would be disruptive for other people and it would cost the taxpayer a lot of money.

“So I think he’s taken a very sensible decision that’s not the right and appropriate thing to do, and it’s right to accept that he has to go and sit in a different area.

“But I know that he’d much rather be sitting in the stands cheering people on with the usual crowd that he’s been going to the football with for years.”

Ms Nandy also said while she has not accepted free clothes – joking “I think you can probably see that I choose my own clothes sadly” – she doesn’t “make any judgements about what other members of parliament do”.

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She said: “The only judgement I would make is if they’re breaking the rules, so they’re trying to hide what they’re doing. That’s when problems arise.

“Because the point of being open and transparent is that people can see where the relationships are, and they can then judge for themselves whether there’s been any undue influence.”

She asserted there had not been an undue influence in gifts accepted by senior Labour figures, adding: “We don’t want the news and the commentary to be dominated by conversations about clothes.

“We rightly have a system, I think, where the taxpayer doesn’t fund these things. We don’t claim on expenses for them. And so MPs will always take donations, will always take gifts in kind.

“MPs of all political parties have historically done that and that is the system that we have.”

She added: “I don’t think there’s any suggestion here that Keir Starmer has broken any rules. I don’t think there’s any suggestion that he’s done anything wrong.

“We expect our politicians to be well turned out, we expect them to be people who go out and represent us at different events and represent the country at different events and are clothed appropriately.

“But the point is that when we accept donations for that or for anything else, that we declare them and we’re open and transparent about them.”

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Sir Keir, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves said yesterday they will no longer accept donations in the future to pay for clothes.

The announcement followed criticism of Sir Keir’s gifts from donors, which included clothing worth £16,200 and multiple pairs of glasses worth £2,485, according to the MPs’ register of interests.

The register shows Ms Rayner has accepted clothing donations to the value of £2,230.

Sky News also revealed the scale of Sir Keir’s donations this week as part of our Westminster Accounts investigation.

Sir Keir was found to have received substantially more gifts and freebies than any other MP – his total in gifts, benefits, and hospitality topped £100,000 since December 2019.