The Daily Mail’s hypocrisy over Angela Rayner’s living arrangements has been exposed after a front page from 1991 was unearthed by journalist Michael Crick.
The newspaper has orchestrated a relentless campaign against the deputy Labour leader focussed on allegations that she broke electoral law by giving false information about her main residence a decade ago.
Rayner has promised to resign if she is found to have committed a crime over the accusations, but said she “followed the rules at all times”.
Speaking on Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said Rayner had “done the right thing” by taking independent tax and legal advice as she faces a row over her previous living arrangements.
Asked why Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer had not read Rayner’s legal advice, despite members of his team having seen it, she responded:
“I certainly wouldn’t expect to see the personal advice about personal finances of any of my colleagues, but I think Angela has handled this in the right way and welcomed the opportunity to set out the facts.
“Keir has a very strong team around him, and rightly so – that’s why I think, not only have they looked at this and been clear about it, but also Angela has as well.
“Angela is a brilliant deputy leader of our party and she is going to continue campaigning, working, (and) continue just as all of us are for the local elections, and not be deterred – political questions are always going to be raised.”
But in revelations that will likely shock no one, it turns out that the Daily Mail hasn’t always been so rigorous about the living arrangements of MPs.
A front-page cover from 1991, unearthed by journalist Michael Crick, shows that they took umbrage to BBC Panorama reports on John Major, which showed he had been registered at a house in Lambeth simply so he could win a seat in the constituency.
According to Crick, the owner told him he’d never lived at the address, but won the seat regardless.
Here’s the wonderfully hypocritical splash in all its glory:
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