The Rainbow Coalition communications operation taking shape. Should focus minds on Labour’s right flank…
Ambitious Mayor of Manchester Andy Burnham is campaigning in London with allies of Angela Rayner.
Politics Home reports that Burnham is to head to Islington and Lewisham to do some door-to-door campaigning. Curiously Guido can report that three days after Angela Rayner went door-knocking in Peckham with leftist housing minister Miatta Fahbulleh, Burnham is doing exactly the same tomorrow afternoon. The Mayor of Manchester is free to discuss matters with Fahnbulleh in the streets of Camberwell…
Over the weekend Team Burnham’s briefers revived an idea from pre-Labour Conference that if Starmer’s personal poll ratings remain low he could hand over the reigns to Burnham after wrapping up sufficient foreign policy matters. More important for Burnham is wrestling control of Labour’s National Executive Committee from Starmer loyalists who blocked his attempt for a seat – circa 16 of the 40 NEC places are up for election in July…
Fahnbulleh served as a senior adviser to Rayner before entering the Commons. Burnham held talks with Rayner over the weekend. Both with their own weaknesses, the two teams could consider it in their interests to hammer out a leadership deal…
Rayner is picking her local election campaign partners carefully. Only allies…
Housing minister Miatta Fahnbulleh has been sending out the invites to Labour members with the title: “Get the Vote Out with Anegla Rayner & Miatta Fahnbulleh.“ Yes, that is her typo – so much for friendship…
Fahnbulleh is former chief executive of the leftist New Economics Foundation and was “senior economic adviser” to Rayner prior to entering parliament in 2024. She has emailed Labour members inviting them to join her and Rayner in her constituency of Peckham on Monday:
“On Monday 20th April, I will be joined by Angela Rayner to Get the Vote Out . We will be meeting at [LOCATION] to flood the area with the values and spirit of the Labour Party.
If you want to see Southwark Council continue its outstanding work across Peckham, please come and join us. Don’t forget to tell your friends, family and colleagues so we can show Angela what Peckham is made of.”
Rayner has in the last few weeks been briefing that she will campaign in the locals to flex her political muscles and so on. The former Deputy PM appeared at a school visit this week with Starmer and Andy Burnham in what was seen as an olive branch. Starmer’s position has strengthened in the eyes of Labourites since the height of the Mandelson scandal…
Strange venue for Labour leadership negotiations…
Angela Rayner potentially faces an extremely long wait before making a leadership push, figures uncovered by Guido reveal.
Figures from HMRC show that in the last four years the average length of time that Stamp Duty Land tax (SDLT) investigations have taken to complete is an average of 35 months. Rayner admitted she may have paid the wrong tax on 5 September last year, only seven months ago…
The best yearly performance is a whopping 27 months, posted in the 24/25 financial year:
| Tax year | Average length of time of closed cases had taken to complete (SDLT) |
|---|---|
| 2021/22 | 31 months |
| 2022/23 | 39 months |
| 2023/24 | 43 months |
| 2024/25 | 27 months |
Since Rayner’s operation conceded that the investigation would have to be finished before she made any attempt at the Labour leadership, the former DPM’s annoyance at HMRC for taking so long (she ‘offered to help‘ at one point) has made frequent appearances in the press. Some actually oppose the complex and overbearing tax burden – Rayner is not one of them…
Rayner has now “taken new legal advice which argues that she did not need to pay the higher rate of stamp duty” and handed it to HMRC. Despite her contestation the Times was helpfully told: “Rayner will accept the outcome of HMRC’s investigation and pay any fine that is due”…
Rayner is hoping HMRC will finish its investigation in May, which would be the best timing for her. The taxman points out those average durations “represent the entire lifecycle of an SDLT enquiry, from the point a case is opened to its final closure. This includes any time spent in appeal and review
processes or litigation, where applicable. These stages can extend the length of an enquiry and are often influenced by actions taken by customers or their agents, rather than HMRC alone.“ Rayner may have shot herself in the foot with that helpful new tax advice…
Were the taxman to conclude her investigation in only eight months despite its apparent complexity, eyebrows would be raised regarding the agency’s hands-on treatment of the former DPM. You’d have to ask the question…
See the figures below:
Continue reading “HMRC Stamp Duty Investigations Take 35 Months on Average in Blow to Rayner”
The latest update to the Register of Members’ Financial Interests is out. See who has the deepest pockets…
Nigel Farage trousered £42,549 from his Cameo video recordings, which must have upset the Guardian. His attempted trip to the Chagos islands – Farage registered it as a “humanitarian aid mission” – cost £25,000, courtesy of Reform donor Christopher Harborne. His £9,466 trip to Mar-a-Lago was picked up by US lobby group Club for Growth…
Angela Rayner banked £19,000 for a single speaking engagement paid by the Management Consultancies Association. There is still a grand total of £0 registered for her book deal advance. She did, however, accept £50,000 from Refrigeration House Limited and £2,500 from Trevor Chinn. Rayner described both donations as “staffing costs“. Quite a sum for a backbencher…
Kemi Badenoch accepted £7,549 in hospitality from Tory donor Neil Record. Five nights for herself and four family members at his private residence over half-term…
Rupert Lowe earned £5,803 from X for an estimated five hours of posting. Farage registered £524 and Lee Anderson £329 from the platform in the same period…
Oliver Dowden took £15,000 from hedge fund Caxton Associates for 30 hours of ‘strategy advice.’
And finally, Starmer registered another trip to the Arsenal Directors’ Box. Two tickets to the tune of £1,000, obviously. As always, nice work if you can get it…
Asked by Lobby hacks about his past comments on Trump (“any UK politician who gave Trump the time of day should be ashamed right now”) Burnham was blithe:
“Politicians say things throughout their career, but now the important thing is to focus on the moment you are in.”
Were it so easy…