At the Lobby briefing of political journalists Starmer’s spokesperson refused to say when the PM knew about Rayner’s tax situation. Guido’s timeline here…
The line is that Starmer was “kept updated on steps the Deputy Prime Minister was taking as was appropriate.” No comment on whether Starmer knew that Rayner told a KC to look into her tax position on Friday. Intriguingly Starmer’s defence of Rayner on the grounds that she is briefed against has today been characterised by Downing Street as “overarching comments”…
The spokesman refused to budge:
“The Prime Minister was kept updated on the steps that the DPM was taking as was appropriate. As soon as that final legal opinion was received by the DPM on Wednesday morning she immediately took steps to refer herself to the Independent Adviser and she updated the PM on the legal advice at the earliest opportunity as well.”
Less transparency, less confidence…