Downing Street denies ‘snubbing’ Rayner over National Security Council seat
Previous deputy prime ministers have sat on the committee since it was created in 2010.
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Angela Rayner has been left out of the permanent membership of the UK’s National Security Council (NSC), despite being Deputy Prime Minister.
Details published on Thursday show there is no permanent seat for Ms Rayner on the NSC, in a break with former practice.
The committee, chaired by the Prime Minister, includes the Chancellor Rachel Reeves, Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, Foreign Secretary David Lammy, Defence Secretary John Healey and the Attorney General Lord Hermer.
All Cabinet committees include a range of secretaries of state, usually relevant to their portfolio. As you can see on the list of attendees meeting, attendees are not fixed and ministers are always invited according to the specific agenda of the meeting
Other ministers, including Ms Rayner, may be invited to attend according to the NSC’s agenda.
But previous deputy prime ministers have been permanent members of the group since it was established by David Cameron in 2010.
The exception to this rule was Therese Coffey, who served as deputy prime minister during Liz Truss’s brief tenure in Downing Street. Ms Truss abolished the NSC, setting up a larger Foreign Policy and Security Committee instead, with Ms Coffey as deputy chair.
Downing Street denied Ms Rayner had been “snubbed”.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said on Thursday: “All Cabinet committees include a range of secretaries of state, usually relevant to their portfolio.
“As you can see on the list of attendees meeting, attendees are not fixed and ministers are always invited according to the specific agenda of the meeting.”
Ms Rayner, who also serves as Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, does sit on the larger National Security Council (Resilience) committee chaired by Mr McFadden.
She is also a member of Cabinet committees focused on the Union and constitution and home and economic affairs, and chairs the Future of Work Committee that oversees the Government’s reforms to employment law.
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