Angela Rayner has listed her Corbynite boyfriend Sam Tarry on her list of ministerial interests: “The minister’s partner is a public affairs consultant and advises the Night Time Industry Association.” Tarry, who also accompanied Rayner on a holiday to Lord Alli’s New York penthouse, is working for the nightclub lobby…
Concurrently Rayner’s housing department says it is working on late-night licensing in London specifically: “The government will work with the Greater London Authority to review strategic licensing powers and explore a pilot scheme, providing the Mayor of London with new powers over strategic licensing. The government and the Greater London Authority will work closely with local stakeholders to design the pilot scheme.” Rather close to home…
On that front Tory Kevin Hollinrake asked if Rayner had recused herself from “matters relating to licensing in the hospitality sector” and got a stonewall response: “All ministers are recused from policy decisions where there are competing interests. The Deputy Prime Minister has declared her interests in the usual way.” A non-answer, which could well unravel…
Tom Baldwin, author of Starmer’s hagiography, spoke to Times Radio:
Tom Baldwin: “I think he’d like to do something. He’s very dutiful and driven by service. That’s why he came into politics. I think that’s characterised his time as prime minister. He hasn’t always sought popularity or been good at being popular. But I think he has some of the necessary qualities that we actually do want in a prime minister. That resilience, that relentlessness, that ability to carry the weight and the job really does weigh very heavily on people and he carries that weight very, very well.”
Jo Coburn: “NATO Secretary-General?”
Tom Baldwin: “I think that’s something that he would be interested in. I think it probably requires Andy Burnham’s government to support him in that and these are some of the questions which Andy Burnham has to resolve quite quickly.”