Newslinks for September 1st 2025

Rayner’s sleaze crisis over multiple homes continues

“The sleaze crisis engulfing Angela Rayner is being fuelled by a Labour ‘civil war’ over who should succeed Keir Starmer, the Tories claimed yesterday. Shadow Cabinet minister Alex Burghart has said that senior Labour figures are more interested in jockeying for position to take over from the Prime Minister than in dealing with the problems facing the country. Mr Burghart said it is ‘very likely’ that damaging information about Ms Rayner’s personal life and tax affairs is being leaked by Labour rivals who believe Sir Keir will be forced out over his dire poll ratings. ‘This is the sort of infighting we are going to see a lot more of in public as Labour politicians fear the collapse of Keir Starmer’s regime and start briefing against each other,’ he told the Daily Mail. ‘The Prime Minister’s popularity is at rock bottom and it is no surprise that the vultures are circling. Now they are starting to fight each other and while they are doing that they are not focused on the needs of the public, such as the crisis in the Channel or the problems in the economy. Their only concern is their own advancement.’ The Conservatives have lodged a formal demand for an investigation into whether the Deputy Prime Minister broke the ministerial code during the purchase of an £800,000 second home. The move follows an outcry over claims that Ms Rayner avoided £40,000 in stamp duty by telling the taxman that the luxury property in Hove is her main home, while telling the Cabinet Office that her primary residence is her former family home 260 miles away in Greater Manchester.” – Daily Mail

• Angela Rayner faces questions over alleged inheritance tax dodge – The Times
• Angela Rayner goes from ‘3 pads’ to ‘3 votes’ in fresh row over postal vote addresses – Daily Express
• Angela Rayner’s partner’s firm secured meetings with housing ministers – The Times

Comment:

• Angela Rayner is about to launch a devastating assault on business – Andrew Griffith, Daily Telegraph
• Without clarity, the stain of hypocrisy will plague Angela Rayner – The Times View

> Yesterday: “Labour Party politicians are leaking against Angela Rayner” – Burghart

Tories to force Labour to choose between migrants and rights of residents, as case for leaving ECHR set out

“The Tories are to challenge Labour to back local residents over migrants under plans to require asylum hotels to secure planning permission. The party is to table amendments to planning legislation that would mean hotels would have to get permission in order to house asylum seekers – and local residents would have to be consulted on the proposals. The move comes after the Home Office last week won a Court of Appeal ruling overturning a temporary injunction forcing the closure of the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, and the removal of 138 asylum seekers currently housed in it. Epping Forest district council claimed that the use of the hotel for migrants breached planning rules. On Monday, it will announce whether it will appeal to the Supreme Court to reinstate the injunction – or wait for a full hearing in the High Court of the case in October. More than a dozen councils controlled by the Tories, Reform and Labour are still considering legal challenges to seek the closure of asylum hotels in their areas. The Tories’ amendments to the Government’s planning and infrastructure bill, would not only require planning permission for a hotel to change its use to housing asylum seekers, but also enable formal objections to the proposals from local communities. They would cover not only future asylum hotels but also the 210 current hotels housing more than 32,000 asylum seekers. The proposed new rules would apply to migrants being held in houses of multiple occupation (HMOs), say the Tories. Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, said: “Conservative councillors in Epping took the initiative and challenged the Labour Government on their use of asylum hotels. While other parties carp from the sidelines, the Conservatives are getting on and doing what we can to stop Keir Starmer from making an even bigger mess of our country.”” – Daily Telegraph

• Jack Straw: Leaving ECHR won’t affect Good Friday Agreement – The Times
• UK to tighten family member rules for asylum cases – BBC News
• Asylum seekers given new £300k town houses rent free while struggling locals can’t get on property ladder – The Sun
• The ‘ludicrous’ migrant family rule pushing councils to breaking point – Daily Telegraph

Comment:

• The Government’s desperate tinkering won’t fix the migrant crisis – Chris Philp, Daily Telegraph
• Starmer needs to decide which side he’s on over illegal migration – so does he have balls to ditch long-held values? – David Wooding, The Sun
• Sorry Archbishop, but these are the people you should be angry with – not Nigel Farage – Jonathan Saxty, Daily Express
• I predict trouble ahead if activist judges continue to subvert the will of the people on immigration – Stephen Glover, Daily Mail
• Asylum facts are useless in battle of identity – Trevor Phillips, The Times
• ECHR has made Britain powerless at its own border and held nation hostage by outdated ‘rights’ Laws – The Sun says

> Yesterday: Rifkind, Blunkett and Straw give Starmer cover to suspend the ECHR

“It’s about a balance of rights” – Phillipson on whether rights of asylum seekers take precedence over those of British citizens

Badenoch’s North Sea oil and gas pledge, as doubts cast over Stamford claims

“Kemi Badenoch has pledged to extract as much North Sea oil and gas as possible — flying in the face of “impossible” Net Zero. The Tory leader insists it is “absurd” to leave fossil fuels untapped and hold back the economy. The commitment if she wins power creates a clear dividing line with Energy Secretary Ed Miliband in banning new exploration licences. Her move follows the decision of Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, who said he would overturn the ban on “day one” if elected to No10. Ms Badenoch will travel to Aberdeen tomorrow to set out her plans. She said: “Britain has already decarbonised more than every other major economy since 1990, causing us to face some of the highest energy prices in the developed world. This is not sustainable, and it cannot continue. That is why I am calling time on this unilateral act of economic disarmament and Labour’s impossible ideology of Net Zero by 2050. Russia’s war in Ukraine has only underscored that our energy supplies are a matter of national security. So, a future Conservative government will scrap all mandates for the North Sea beyond maximising extraction.” She added: “We are going to get all our oil and gas out of the North Sea.” It echoes US president Donald Trump who has vowed to “drill, baby, drill”, Offshore Energies UK boss David Whitehouse said: “Every barrel of oil and gas we leave in the North Sea is a barrel we’ll need to import.” Meanwhile, Chancellor Rachel Reeves was urged to reform windfall taxes on oil and gas firms by trade body Offshore Energy UK.” – The Sun

• Doubts cast on Kemi Badenoch’s claim of US medical school offer – The Guardian
• ‘Absurd’ to leave fossil fuels in the North Sea untapped – Kemi Badenoch – Channel 4 News
• Tories pledge to get all oil and gas out of North Sea – BBC News

News in brief:

• Epping tips back into unrest after migrant hotel ruling – Jack Davey, Unherd
• Britain’s Macron moment – and why we should be worried about it – Joe Harrison, The Spectator
• The court that stops us speaking our mind – Andrew Tettenborn, The Critic
• Business execs should snap out of summer slump quickly this year – Chris Hayward, CityAM

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