The Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has apologised to the PM for her “inadvertent error” in not paying for a licence to rent her hideous four-bed house in Dulwich when she moved into the more cramped but strategic flat in Downing Street; right next to the PM. “Regrettably”, she was unaware of the requirement, she said. Sir Keir Starmer professed himself content with the apology, so “further investigation is not necessary”.
So that’s all right then? Well, no. After the Angela Rayner scandal, whereby the Deputy PM was obliged to resign for tax irregularities to do with her primary residence in Hove (and I still can’t get my head round the notion that Hove is her primary residence when it’s hundreds of miles from her constituency), you’d have thought that ministers would be hyper-vigilant when it comes to matters to do with property and taxation. Back in August, there was that unfortunate business regarding Rushanara Ali, the Labour homelessness minister, who resigned after controversy surrounding the eviction of tenants from her rental property to sell it, and then re-listing it at a significantly higher rent.
