Labour conference live: Rayner takes to stage after defending government in freebies row with ‘all MPs do it’
Angela Rayner says she has broken no rules on accepting political donations
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Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner is due to speak at the Labour party conference after defending the government over freebies accepted by senior ministers.
Ms Rayner told the BBC on Sunday morning that gifts and donations were “a factor in our political life”, adding: “MPs have accepted gifts and donations for years. All MPs do it”.
She said she had accepted donations to help her stand as deputy leader and that she had not broken any rules by accepting a free New York holiday stay last year from donor Lord Alli.
Ms Rayner will be opening the Labour party conference in Liverpool. She will focus on her plans for housing, promising decent homes for all and a kick-started programme of building.
Sir Keir Starmer and his chief of staff Sue Gray are also facing a deepening row over football freebies after it was revealed yesterday that Sir Keir shared a corporate box at Tottenham Hotspur last Sunday with a powerful lobbyist who backed plans for a breakaway Super League.
The Independent’s political team will be reporting throughout the day from the Labour party conference in Liverpool.
Angela Rayner defends Labour government over donations row saying ‘all MPs do it’
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Unite union will try to force vote on winter fuel allowance at Labour conference
The union Unite will try to force a vote on reversing the government’s cuts to winter fuel allowance at the party’s conference.
The conference, which is being held in Liverpool, will start tomorrow. Unite has submitted a motion calling for “a vision where pensioners are not the first to face a new wave of cuts”.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been under increasing pressure to scrap the plan to cut winter fuel payments for pensioners.
Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer has defended the move saying that “tough decisions” were necessary to stabilise the economy and boost growth. While the Unite vote will be politically inconvenient, it will not be binding.
Sir Keir is expected to meet with union general secretaries today in an effort to persuade them not to side against him on the fuel allowance vote.
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