Angela Rayner has been cleared of deliberate wrongdoing or carelessness by HMRC, according to the Guardian. Coincidentally, this ‘redeeming’ news for Rayner comes just in the nick of time as her former boss’ position appears increasingly untenable.
As a result, likely runners Wes Streeting and Andy Burnham look set to face another contender. Nonetheless, it hardly feels like any of these contenders will actually provide any real difference to the public at large.
After all, they have all been perfectly happy to sell out their principles to get closer to power – that isn’t likely to change when the next job offers even more power.
As we all well know from the numerous examples we’ve seen over the years: power corrupts.
EXCL: Angela Rayner has been cleared by HMRC of deliberate wrongdoing or carelessness over her tax affairs, paving the way for a potential leadership bid if Keir Starmer’s grip on power unravels.
The former DPM has settled £40,000 in unpaid stamp duty, but has not paid any…
— Pippa Crerar (@PippaCrerar) May 14, 2026
Rayner will ‘play her part’ in making Starmer step aside
According to the Guardian’s political editor, Rayner has cleared her stamp duty debt of £40k but has not received any penalties from the HMRC for failing to pay it in the first place. Apparently, this is likely to make her a hopeful in the upcoming – likely fiery – leadership battle for the job of PM after they inevitably oust Starmer.
Journalist Pippa Crerar posted on X:
HMRC was also satisfied there was no tax avoidance.
Rayner tells me she was “bruised” by whole experience because of intrusion into her disabled son’s personal life, but also because it had appeared as though she was “in it for myself” rather than on the side of ordinary people.
Rayner indicated she may run in event of a contest as she would “play my part” and that she understood why Labour MPs were so upset following last week’s election crushing. She said Starmer should “reflect on” stepping aside.
Whilst Labour MPs are clambering to distance themselves from Starmer, it is hard to ignore the fact that many of these same MPs have had no issue up until now with the PM’s leadership.
Rayner, more specifically, had been seen as a genuine advocate for working class people in years gone by. Nevertheless, her apparent comfort to back down on her principles, and her sense of humanity, has not gone unnoticed.
For instance, despite full solidarity having been offered to her constituent – a Palestinian man – before entering government, he was later seen being forcibly removed from a public event. This followed an appeal to Angela Rayner for help and compassion after multiple members of his family were murdered by Zionist Israel.
Heartbreaking moment Dalloul al-Neder confronts Angela Rayner about his family who died in Gaza.@NadiaWhittomeMP reacts on the new Pod Save the UK with @cocobyname & @MrNishKumar. Listen here: https://t.co/0G12rmurTr#PodSaveTheUK pic.twitter.com/E7BWdXZ5Lj
— Pod Save the UK (@podsavetheuk) February 2, 2024
Rayner – where has your voice been?
The Morning Star reported at the time:
Dalloul al-Neder, who has lost his mother, brother, pregnant sister-in-law and two nieces during bombing in December, confronted Ms Rayner during the fundraising event at the Village Hotel in Cheadle.
“I lost my family in Gaza,” Mr Neder began as Ms Rayner looked on.“Why did you not demand a ceasefire?”
He was dragged away seconds after his intervention by a police officer.
Another protester shouted: “Fifteen thousand children and women are dead: where has your voice been?
“You call yourself a modern-day feminist? I don’t think so. Women are having to use scraps, tents, for sanitary towels.”
Therefore, it is surely pretty clear – as it is to the electorate – that any of these Labour MPs running for leadership might change the face at the top, but their priorities will unlikely change in practice.
Many in the UK also see the futility in any of the leadership ‘hopefuls’ for Labour:
Labour are finished, neoliberalism should never have been the guiding light for Starmer’s change’ schtick.
Now they are paying the price.
Rayner was all for a free Palestine, but quickly threw her principles out of the window.
Burnham was already blocked over becoming an MP by…— EuropeanPowell (@EuropeanPowell) May 10, 2026
The post above finishes:
Chaos, treachery, U-turns, the Epstein saga, McSweeney, Palantir, Blackrock, supporting genocide, purging the left, punching down instead of up.
Labour are finished, watch them tear each other apart in their death throes.
Join the Green Party, the only truly viable party of the left.
We can’t keep doing the same thing and somehow expect a different outcome
We know by now that the Labour political elite are all more focused on bending to powerful people, rather than effectively defending and championing the ever-eroding civil rights and freedoms of ordinary people. Following Starmer’s purge of socialist, anti-Zionists from the Labour Party, this really was inevitable. Rayner may have been more loyal to working class people – but she could have done far better.
As a result, this misplaced priority is dragging the country further into decline. The rich and powerful may be capable of weathering instability and uncertainty. However, that burden becomes increasingly unbearable for poor people across the UK.
Therefore, it is essential that people don’t buy into the misleading portrayals of these MPs as somehow different to their soon-to-be predecessor as PM. They, too, have shown they are perfectly happy to sell out their principles, and their constituents, for the right price.
British people deserve far better than the political class corrupting and subverting our democracy.
Featured image via the Canary
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