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Tag: Angela Rayner

  • Angela Rayner – 2021 Comments on Remarks Made by John Fuller from Norfolk Conservatives

    Angela Rayner – 2021 Comments on Remarks Made by John Fuller from Norfolk Conservatives

    The comments made by Angela Rayner, the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, on 2 April 2021.

    That a senior Conservative would suggest people are deliberately catching Covid in order to get sick pay is as disgraceful as it is absurd, especially as the Conservatives have excluded so many people from the support they need to do the right thing and isolate over the last year.

    These claims have no basis in reality and are a grim insult to anyone who has lost a loved one to this terrible virus.

    Amanda Milling and the Conservatives must apologies and distance themselves from them immediately.

  • Angela Rayner – 2021 Letter to Boris Johnson on Jennifer Arcuri

    Angela Rayner – 2021 Letter to Boris Johnson on Jennifer Arcuri

    The letter sent from Angela Rayner, the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, to Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, on 31 March 2021.

    Dear Prime Minister

    I am writing to you regarding comments made by your Press Secretary and official spokesperson yesterday, stating that the Independent Office for Police Conduct had found that claims regarding a potential breach of the rules in handing public money and access to Jennifer Arcuri were “untrue and unfounded”.

    The IOPC’s report does not include the phrase “untrue and unfounded”. Acting with integrity and honesty, as your Press Secretary claims you have always done in this matter, would mean that you should be happy to correct the record.

    Following the handing of £2 billion of taxpayers’ money in government contracts to donors and friends of the Conservative Party during the Coronavirus pandemic, there is significant and justified public concern regarding cronyism and special treatment for people with close relationships with and links to the Conservative Party and Ministers when it comes to public money and preferential treatment and access.

    With each passing week there are more revelations about Conservative Party cronyism and more allegations of the misuse of taxpayers’ money come to light, with recent events raising very serious questions about the conduct of former Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron and the special access granted to ministers and Whitehall departments for favoured business figures.

    It is in this context that the Greater London Authority investigation into whether any preferential treatment or access was given to Jennifer Arcuri during your time as Mayor of London takes on a renewed importance. As I am sure you would you agree, it is vital to ensure complete probity in all matters relating to the distribution of taxpayers’ money, and I would urge you to take urgent steps to assure the British people that there was no special or preferential treatment on your part in the awarding of public grants or preferential access to Jennifer Arcuri.

    The British people deserve to know that taxpayers’ money is spent with honesty and integrity on the basis of what you know, not who you know. So I would also urge you again to publish the details of companies who have been awarded government contracts through referral to a special “high priority” and “VIP” lane thanks to existing relationships with, or tips from, Conservative Ministers and Members of Parliament.

    Yours Sincerely

    Angela Rayner MP

  • Angela Rayner – 2021 Comments on Downing Street Flat Refurbishment

    Angela Rayner – 2021 Comments on Downing Street Flat Refurbishment

    The comments made by Angela Rayner, the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, on 20 March 2021.

    The Prime Minister cannot keep on dodging questions about the redecoration of his flat in Downing Street.

    The British people have a right to know how much money has been spent and where that money came from.

    Given the Government’s track record of handing out contracts to Conservative Party donors and cronies, if the money to pay for this work has indeed come from donors then the public will rightly be demanding answers over what access and special favours these donors may well be expecting in return.

  • Angela Rayner – 2021 Comments on Downing Street Flat Refurbishments

    Angela Rayner – 2021 Comments on Downing Street Flat Refurbishments

    The comments made by Angela Rayner, the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, on 16 March 2021.

    The Prime Minister cannot dodge questions about the redecoration of his flat in Downing Street as the British people have a right to know how much money has been spent and where that money came from.

    If the money to pay for this work has indeed come from Conservative Party donors then the public will rightly be demanding answers over what access and special favours Conservative Party donors may well be expecting in return.

  • Angela Rayner – 2021 Comments on Sarah Everard

    Angela Rayner – 2021 Comments on Sarah Everard

    The comments made by Angela Rayner, the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, on 13 March 2021.

    Tonight I will light a candle for Sarah Everard. My thoughts are with her loved ones and all the women and girls who have been attacked, harassed and even killed.

    Solidarity with all the women making their voices heard, sharing their stories and fighting for justice and change.

  • Angela Rayner – 2021 Comments on Postal Voting

    Angela Rayner – 2021 Comments on Postal Voting

    The comments made by Angela Rayner, the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, on 27 February 2021.

    Yet again Ministers are burying their heads in the sand with voters set to go to the polls in the biggest set of elections we have ever seen outside of a General Election in just ten weeks’ time.

    The Government has had nearly a year to sort this out and protect our democracy, but Ministers have once again been too slow to act. With ten weeks to go, we are yet to see a proper plan from the government setting out how these elections will be run safely, while councils face shortages of electoral staff, lack of venues, and funding uncertainty.

    The government’s failure to take any action to encourage people to sign up to vote safely from home risks creating a perfect storm of the disenfranchisement of millions of voters and potentially dangerous crowds at polling stations.

    It is clear that fairly stringent measures will still be in place in May, so it is completely inexplicable that the government is not taking urgent action to get people signed up to vote from home by post, hugely undermining their own public health messaging emphasising the ongoing threat of Covid and the need to proceed with caution in lifting restrictions in order to avoid a surge in infections, hospitalisations and infections and a devastating fourth national lockdown.

  • Angela Rayner – 2021 Comments on the Conduct of Shaun Bailey

    Angela Rayner – 2021 Comments on the Conduct of Shaun Bailey

    The comments made by Angela Rayner, the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, on 25 January 2021.

    The Tory Mayoral candidate has been caught out repeatedly attempting to mislead Londoners. He seems determined to insult voters’ intelligence by bringing discredited Donald Trump style fake news to London.

    He has consistently misled over TfL finances, the congestion charge and council tax, and his latest leaflets are literally a work of fiction. Fake news, fake polls and fake leaflets will not only reflect badly on him and the Conservative Party but erode trust in politics.

    The Conservative Party must immediately apologise for the actions of their London Mayoral campaign and demonstrate that they are committed to following the law.

  • Angela Rayner – 2021 Comments on the Government’s Competence

    Angela Rayner – 2021 Comments on the Government’s Competence

    The comments made by Angela Rayner, the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, on 14 January 2021.

    The Conservatives have presided over the worst recession of any major economy and worst excess death rate in Europe.

    The British people need a government that is committed to defeating this virus and getting Britain vaccinated. Instead, the day after our country recorded the highest daily death toll since this crisis started, the Conservatives are playing politics and fighting amongst themselves.

    Labour is focusing on getting Britain vaccinated so we can secure our economy, protect our NHS and rebuild our country.

  • Angela Rayner – 2021 Letter on Time Off for Vaccines

    Angela Rayner – 2021 Letter on Time Off for Vaccines

    The letter sent by Angela Rayner, the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, on 11 January 2021.

    Angela Rayner has written to the ‘Big 5’ business groups:

    Tony Danker, Director General of the CBI
    Adam Marshall, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce
    Mike Cherry, Chair of the Federation of Small Businesses
    Stephen Phipson, Chief Executive of Make UK
    Jonathan Geldart, Director General of the Institute of Directors

    Full text of letter:

    Dear Tony/Adam/Mike/Stephen/Jonathan

    2020 was an incredibly tough year for all of us. The coronavirus pandemic has hit our country harder than almost any other, we have had the worst recession of any major economy and the impact on British businesses has been devastating. Too many good businesses have struggled, too many people have lost their jobs and the longer this crisis lasts the deeper the economic damage will be.

    We should all be proud of the role British businesses have played in the national effort – adapting their workplaces to continue to operate in the most challenging circumstances, and even going above and beyond by changing production to make hand sanitiser, PPE, and providing free school meals when the government failed to feed our children.”

    The government has – once again – lost control of the virus. Regrettably, restrictions are again needed to save lives and protect our NHS. But for every week that this remains the case, more damage is done to our country, our economy and British businesses, more working people lose their jobs and more businesses face bankruptcy.

    This crisis is costing the UK economy more than £5 billion each week, and 23,000 people are estimated to be losing their jobs per week, which makes it absolutely critical that the vaccine is rolled out swiftly and safely. Delays will cost our economy billions of pounds, and see tens of thousands more workers lose their jobs.

    That is why the Labour Party and trade union movement has launched the #LetsVaccinateBritain campaign, to do everything we can to support the national effort to get people vaccinated, protect our NHS and secure the economy. We encourage you to ask your members to support this campaign.

    I know that you share this commitment to ensuring that the vaccine is rolled out as quickly as possible, and you will know first-hand how damaging delays will be to our economy and to businesses.

    We all have a role to play, and Britain’s businesses can support this national effort by ensuring that all workers are given paid time off to attend their vaccination appointments and escort vulnerable relatives to appointments, workers are supported in signing up as NHS volunteers to support the vaccine roll-out and businesses use their platforms to promote the importance of the vaccine and combat dangerous anti-vax misinformation.

    The sooner the vaccine is rolled out, the sooner our economy and our businesses can begin to recover and every effort can make a difference.

    The Labour Party looks forward to working with British businesses to vaccinate Britain and rebuild our country and our communities in the months and years ahead.

    Yours sincerely

    Angela Rayner

  • Angela Rayner – 2020 Comments on Peter Cruddas Peerage

    Angela Rayner – 2020 Comments on Peter Cruddas Peerage

    The comments made by Angela Rayner, the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, on 22 December 2020.

    After months of revelations about the cronyism at the heart of this government, it’s somehow appropriate the Prime Minister has chosen to end the year with a peerage to Peter Cruddas, the man who once corruptly offered access to government in exchange for cash.

    Whether it’s the Dominic Cummings saga, wasting hundreds of millions of taxpayer cash on contracts that don’t deliver or giving peerages to disgraced donors, it’s never been more clear: there is one rule for the Conservatives and their chums, another for the rest of the country.