Labour latest: Rayner pays £40,000 stamp duty to start challenge

Angela Rayner has said in interviews with the Guardian and ITV that she has been cleared of any tax misconduct by HMRC, paving the way for a potential leadership bid if Sir Keir Starmer were to resign. Watch her interview here:

Allies of Wes Streeting have claimed the numbers of MPs backing him are ‘rock solid’ amid suggestions the Health Secretary does not have the required support to trigger a leadership contest.

Insiders backing Mr Streeting responded following suggestions from those close to Sir Keir Starmer that he has fallen short. Mr Streeting can trigger a contest if he has the support of 81 Labour MPs.

‘The numbers are rock solid,’ the source told The i Paper.

Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander said there had been ‘twists and turns’ in the Labour Party’s leadership ‘drama’, but stressed there was no bid as yet to oust the Prime Minister.

Mr Alexander said: ‘For all the headlines, there is a process by which a challenge to the Labour Party leadership can be conducted, and that process hasn’t been triggered.’

Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland’s Breakfast programme, the Scottish MP accepted ‘these are difficult days’ for the party across the UK after last week’s poor election performance.

But he said the Prime Minister had been ‘clear’ that he accepted responsibility for the ‘very bad set of results’.

Mr Alexander said: ‘The Prime Minister has my support, I am a member of the Cabinet.

‘I think for all of the speculation, for all of the headlines, it’s worth holding on to the fact we’ve seen twists and turns in this drama even in recent days.

‘There’s a process by which a challenge to the Labour Party leadership can be conducted, and that process simply hasn’t been triggered this morning.’

The Prime Minister’s Chief Secretary Darren Jones has arrived in Downing Street, where he did not stop to answer questions from reporters before heading in to No 10.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury James Murray said he hoped Wes Streeting would still be Health Secretary by the end of Thursday.

Asked whether Mr Streeting was still in post, amid speculation that he will quit, Mr Murray told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘He is the Health Secretary, and I hope he is the Health Secretary by the end of the day.’

Mr Murray also warned against a leadership contest, saying: ‘I would say to all colleagues, take a deep breath. Take a step back.

‘Make sure that we recognise we’re less than two years into this Parliament. Look at what we’ve done so far. Look at the benefits of the stability that we brought to Government, make sure that we don’t go into a chaotic process of uncertainty, and make sure we focus on what people want us to be doing.’

Labour’s leadership anarchy took a dramatic twist today as Angela Rayner declared she had been cleared by the taxman – and suggested Keir Starmer could consider quitting.

The former deputy PM effectively threw her hat into the ring by announcing that she has paid £40,000 to settle her wrangling with HMRC over unpaid stamp duty.

Crucially, she insisted that she had not been made to pay any penalty for deliberately or ‘carelessly’ dodging tax. Read the Daily Mail’s full story here:

The FTSE 100 opened 20 points higher this morning, before trading flat within minutes at 10,326.

Bond markets are relatively calm with the 10-year gilt yield slipping 3 basis points, while 30-years are trading down 2 basis points at 5.72 per cent.

Stay in touch with all the latest updates on the economic situation this morning with This Is Money’s ‘Markets Live’:

Rachel Reeves warned Labour MPs that a leadership chaos will crush the economy today.

The Chancellor delivered the stark message as she insisted UK plc has been resilient in the face of the Middle East crisis.

Official figures this morning showed GDP growing by 0.3 per cent in March – the first full month since Donald Trump launch strikes on Iran. That was better than most analysts expected, although slower than February.

Read the Daily Mail’s full story here:

When asked about Angela Rayner’s case, HMRC said: ‘We cannot comment on individuals due to taxpayer confidentiality law.’

Chancellor Rachel Reeves said Labour MPs had an ‘important decision to make’ as she spoke to reporters in Downing Street.

Asked if she was worried about the impact of a potential leadership race on the economic policies she has been working on these past few years, she said: ‘Labour MPs have got an important decision to make today, but the numbers show that the economy is growing and that when we entered this conflict, our economy was growing strongly because of the decisions that I have made as chancellor, we shouldn’t put that at risk.’

Chief Secretary to the Treasury James Murray said Sir Keir Starmer could win a future Labour leadership contest.

Asked whether he believed the Prime Minister would survive and fight a leadership election, he told Times Radio: ‘Yes.’

Asked whether Sir Keir would stand in any contest, Mr Murray said: ‘He’s said that, he said that on Monday in response to a question after his speech on Monday that he would if there were one.

‘But I repeat my earlier point, I think having a leadership election would be the wrong choice for us to take.’

Angela Rayner said she was ‘relieved’ she could ‘get on with my job’ after HMRC cleared her of deliberate wrongdoing in an investigation over her tax affairs.

In a statement, the former deputy leader said: ‘I welcome HMRC’s conclusion, which has cleared me of any wrongdoing.

‘I have been exonerated by HMRC of the accusation that I deliberately sought to avoid tax.

‘When purchasing a home of my own with a mortgage, I did not own any other property and had no personal financial interest in the court-instructed trust set up to manage my son’s financial award. I was advised by experts that I should pay stamp duty at the standard rate.

‘I set out to pay the correct amount of tax. I took reasonable care and acted in good faith, based on the expert advice I received, and HMRC has accepted this.

‘I have always sought to act with integrity, and I believe politicians should be held to high standards – that is why I resigned from Government and co-operated fully with HMRC.

‘I wanted to ensure that I paid every penny that I owed, and have done so. I am relieved that my family can now move on – and that I can get on with my job.’