Politics LIVE: Angela Rayner reignites Lord Alli row as she admits accepting £3,550 of free clothes from Labour donor
WATCH: Nana Akua asks what Lord Alli is getting in return for his donations to the Labour Party
GB NEWS
Angela Rayner has admitted to receiving thousands of pounds worth of free clothes from "donorgate" Labour peer Lord Alli.
In her register of interests, the Deputy Prime Minister declared she took some £3,550 in "work clothes" from the top party donor.
After previously claiming she had taken the cash for help with "Parliamentary duties", she then changed the record after taking advice from authorities, The Times reports.
The register now says "work clothes for use while undertaking my duties" rather than the previous "donation in kind for undertaking Parliamentary duties".
While it's the first time that Rayner - also the Housing Secretary - has brought her clothes donations to light, Lord Alli appears five times on her register of interests.
Back in September, it came to light that Lord Alli had greenlit Rayner's use of his multi-million-dollar apartment in New York - prompting outrage and calls for an official investigation by the Conservatives.
But the Deputy PM defended herself to the BBC, saying: "I think I followed the rules."
Addressing the backlash, she added: "I get that people are frustrated, in particular the circumstances that we're in, but donations for gifts and hospitality and monetary donations have been a feature of our politics for a very long time.
"People can look it up and see what people have had donations for, and the transparency is really important."
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Labour DEFENDS 'Value for Money Office' chief's £950 day rate - 'Actually, it's competitive!'
GB NEWS
Chief Treasury Secretary Darren Jones has defended Labour's new Office for Value for Money chief's £950 day rate as "competitive" this morning.
Asked about the pay of ex-HS2 board member David Goldstone, Jones told LBC: "The rate of return for the improvements that we will make from looking at these areas of spending will be far, far greater.
"It is right that we pay people for their time. We can't expect people to work for free. That is an important way in which we do things in this country.
"Actually, the day rate for David is, on a benchmark basis, competitive."
He was then grilled on GB News on the November 19 protests planned by the National Farmers' Union - but cast off concerns, telling hosts Stephen Dixon and Ellie Costello: "People are never going to be happy about paying more tax."
‘They’re killing the hand that feeds them!’ Farmer facing ‘monumental’ inheritance tax bill blasts Rachel Reeves: ‘D-Day for agriculture’
‘They’re killing the hand that feeds them!’ Farmer lashes out at ‘monumental’ inheritance tax billGB NEWSFarmer James Fairlie has ripped into Labour's proposed inheritance tax changes, describing them as "D-Day for agriculture" to GB News.
The seventh-generation farmer, whose family has worked the same land since 1703, accused Westminster of failing to understand the vital role of British agriculture.
"We're doing this to produce food to keep you alive," Fairlie said, and accused Labour of "killing the hand that feeds them" with the proposed tax reforms.
'The tsunami CONTINUES!' Anderson and Yusuf bullish on Reform as party wins crucial by-election
Reform Gain.
— Lee Anderson MP (@LeeAndersonMP_) November 1, 2024
The political tsunami continues.
And more defections incoming.
We will get our country back. https://t.co/5lSOIhu7Jn
Lee Anderson has heaped praise on Reform UK's council by-election win after his party surged to victory over Labour.
In Bilston North in Wolverhampton, Nigel Farage's party - spearheaded by Anita Tolgyesi Stanley - decimated Labour, handing the party of Government a crushing -38 percentage point blow.
Deputy leader Richard Tice had predicted "hundreds" of new council seats for Reform after Farage extended a "lifeline" to potential defectors - and his predictions look to be paying off already.
Reacting to the vote, Reform's chief whip Lee Anderson said: "The political tsunami continues... And more defections incoming. We will get our country back."
While party chairman Zia Yusuf offered his congratulations to Stanley, saying: "Another Reform WIN. A huge swing to Reform from Labour, with the Tories falling even further behind."
Thousands of private schools wage legal war on Labour as VAT hikes loom
Schools will argue that Starmer's VAT raid infringes on children's "right to education"
PAOver 1,000 private schools are set to sue the Labour Government over its upcoming VAT raid on fees.
The Independent Schools Council announced that its members - including big names like Eton and Harrow - had voted in favour of taking Labour to the High Court just yesterday afternoon.
The 1,400-member-strong independent education bloc has enlisted the services of top barrister - and Manchester City's legal lead against the Premier League - Lord Pannick KC to bring their case to court.
The ISC said legal proceedings would "begin shortly" ahead of the VAT hike coming into force from January 1.
The group will be looking to prove that Labour's policy undermines pupils' human rights under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) as well as the Human Rights Act 1998.
The group will also argue that the VAT raid infringes on children's "right to education" - and that the policy amounts to a discriminatory practice against independent schools.
Badenoch wins crucial senior Tory endorsements as one day remains until new party leader announced
Badenoch now has the support of 13 Shadow Cabinet members
GB NEWS/PA
Kemi Badenoch has been handed a raft of senior Conservative Party endorsements in the wake of yesterday's leadership contest voting coming to a close.
The Shadow Housing Secretary has taken on a litany of frontbench backers - including, most recently, shadow Welsh and education secretaries Lord Davies and Damian Hinds, respectively.
Meanwhile, rival leadership hopeful Robert Jenrick has recently been backed by ex-Home Secretary Suella Braverman and Wendy Morton.
Badenoch now has the support of 13 Shadow Cabinet members, while Jenrick has three.
The two went head-to-head on a GB News special political programme on October 17 - with the audience picking Badenoch as their favourite to take over from Rishi Sunak.
But with just over 24 hours remaining until Sunak's successor is announced, a Badenoch ally has counselled caution, telling The Telegraph: "The little that we do know is that the turnout is low.
"The issue with low turnout is it makes it very hard to predict what is going on."
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