Newslinks for Friday 29th August 2025

Rayner ‘dodges £40,000 stamp duty’

“Angela Rayner saved £40,000 in stamp duty on her new seaside flat after telling tax authorities it was her main home, The Telegraph can disclose. The Deputy Prime Minister is understood to have removed her name from the deeds of her house in Greater Manchester a few weeks before buying an £800,000 seaside flat in Hove, East Sussex. The changes enabled Ms Rayner to avoid paying £70,000 in stamp duty, which would have been applicable if Hove was her second home. Instead, she is thought to have paid £30,000 in stamp duty, saving her £40,000 in the process.” – Daily Telegraph

• Deputy PM ‘avoided £40,000 stamp duty on new seaside flat’ – The Times
• Rayner accused of ‘dodging stamp duty’ – Daily Mail
• And Rayner ‘dodged stamp duty’ – Daily Express

Rights of asylum seekers trump people of Epping, argues Home Office

“Asylum seekers’ rights are more important than the concerns of the people of Epping, the Home Office has declared. On Friday, a judge will rule whether Epping Forest district council can close a hotel housing illegal migrants or the Home Office can continue to use it to house asylum seekers. On Thursday, Home Office lawyers told the Court of Appeal that Yvette Cooper had a duty as Home Secretary to prevent asylum seekers from being made destitute under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and so they should continue to live at the Bell Hotel. They claimed this responsibility trumped the council’s powers to close the hotel”. – Daily Telegraph

• Asylum seekers’ rights outweigh local concerns, Home Office says – The Times
• French police refuse to tackle migrants in water – Daily Telegraph

Comment

• Backing illegal migrants at expense of those already living and working here will end very badly for Labour – Editorial, The Sun

>Today:

Labour accused of covering up scale of Whitehall data leaks after Afghan breach

“Labour has been accused of covering up the scale of Whitehall data leaks after the Afghan breach. Civil servants launched a review of security under the Conservative government in the wake of a string of high-profile data breaches, it has emerged. It came a year after nearly 24,000 Afghan soldiers and their families were secretly offered asylum after being caught up in the most serious data breach in history in 2022. Despite the heavy cost of the scheme, the breach was kept secret from the public for 683 days by two successive governments after the first use of a super-injunction by ministers.” – Daily Telegraph

PM faces revolt over ‘needlessly cruel’ treatment of female aides

“Sir Keir Starmer is facing a backlash over the “needlessly cruel” way Downing Street handled the departure of a second senior female aide in less than a year. Nin Pandit was appointed the Prime Minister’s principal private secretary (PPS) in October, but it emerged on Thursday that she was being replaced. Insiders briefed that Sir Keir had become concerned she was ineffective in her role. She has previously been subject to comments branding her “useless”. Ms Pandit’s departure comes less than a year after Sue Gray was removed as Sir Keir’s chief of staff, less than 100 days into his premiership, following clashes with No 10 colleagues.” – Daily Telegraph

• Starmer launches Downing Street shake-up – FT
• No 10 operation in ‘chaos’ as PM removes another senior aide – Daily Mail

Comment

Labour MSP charged over ‘secret camera in Parliament toilets’

“MSP Colin Smyth has been charged with allegedly putting a secret camera in the Scottish Parliament toilets. Last week, it emerged that the senior Scottish Labour member, 52, who has been suspended by the party, had been charged in connection with possessing indecent child images. He was arrested on August 5 in Dumfries before later being discharged by police. The Scottish Sun understands Mr Smyth has been charged over allegedly hiding a camera in the Scottish Parliament toilets.” – The Sun

• MSP Smyth ‘put hidden camera in Holyrood lavatories’ – Daily Telegraph

And finally, former PM Johnson spotted sporting a summer beard

“Just look at our former prime minister Boris Johnson, who was spotted sporting a grizzled new look over the bank holiday weekend, having grown out his salt and pepper stubble into a short beard. And while the 61-year-old has always been known for his slightly scruffy appearance and untameable mop of blonde hair, it’s the first time he’s been seen looking a little whiskery.”– Daily Telegraph

Other political news and comment

• Labour’s wealth tax isn’t just economically ruinous, it’s a moral disgrace – David Frost
• Blair is the last person Trump should listen to on the Middle East – Robert Tombs, Daily Telegraph
• NHS to roll out chicken pox jab to all children next year – The Times
• Police chief attacks Reform UK promise to scrap equality policies as ‘ludicrous’ – Guardian
• Farage is winning the new battle of Brexit – Robert Shrimsley, FT
• Green Party lunacy as top rivals claim England flag is ‘problematic’ and ‘colonial’ – Daily Express
• Fed governor Lisa Cook sues Donald Trump over attempted sacking – The Times

News in Brief