Andy Burnham’s allies have accused Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer of hypocrisy amid the housing scandal currently engulfing his Chancellor, Rachel Reeves.
Ms Reeves has faced intense criticism for her failure to secure mandatory licensing from Southwark Council for her Dulwich rental property.
She referred herself to the independent ethics adviser and informed the Prime Minister that she had no knowledge of the licensing requirement.
However, emails that emerged on Thursday between the Chancellor’s husband and the letting agency revealed that he had been told it was necessary.
Sir Keir accepted that the Chancellor had acted in good faith but criticised her for failing to conduct a thorough review of all relevant correspondence before her initial statement.
Downing Street also stressed that the controversy currently surrounding her was different from the tax scandal that saw former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner resign.
However, the Labour group currently backing Andy Burnham was unimpressed with the staunch defence of the Chancellor.
“There’s a reason Rayner was turfed out as soon as possible, but support for Reeves is robust,” they said.
Allies of Andy Burnham have slammed Keir Starmer for ‘hypocrisy’ over his handling of Rachel Reeves’s housing scandal
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“It’s always one rule for their people and another for anyone who threatens to loosen their grip on control,” the group told The Telegraph.
Mainstream are among elements of the Labour Party seeking to see Mr Burnham lodge a leadership bid and replace Sir Keir as Prime Minister.
They join other critics of the defence of Ms Reeves, including Labour MP Graham Stringer, who believed her looming budget was the reason for Downing Street’s backing.
“With other circumstances or other timings, I believe he may have come to a different decision on Rachel Reeves. I understand why the Prime Minister has made a different decision because of the Budget, but in other circumstances I would have expected them to be treated the same,” he said.
Ms Reeves has been criticised for her failure to secure a mandatory license from Southwark council for her Dulwich rental property
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A member from the left of the party also said there appeared to be: “An inequity between the treatment of Angela Rayner and that of Rachel Reeves”.
“Both failed to know the policies that they had to follow, both left with having to seek financial and other redress, yet Angela had to resign and Rachel is not even being investigated by the PM,” the MP added.
The independent adviser on ministerial interests, Sir Laurie Magnus, determined in September that Ms Rayner had breached the ministerial code despite paying incorrect stamp duty “in good faith”.
Sir Laurie characterised the Chancellor’s licensing failure as an “unfortunate but inadvertent error” that did not warrant resignation.
Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesman has insisted the Chancellor enjoys his the continued backing
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He acknowledged the “confusion” created by contradictory information provided over consecutive days but concluded: “I find no evidence of bad faith.”
The Prime Minister’s spokesman maintained that the two cases were “distinct and separate”, pointing to the independent adviser’s different rulings in each instance.
When pressed about Sir Keir’s confidence in the Chancellor, the spokesman highlighted her achievements.
Number 10 has also declined to clarify whether the Chancellor technically violated the ministerial code, in light of Sir Laurie’s assessment.