‘What class am I in – I like to dance.’ This was Angela Rayner’s defense a few weeks ago when she filmed techno music in an Ibiza ‘DJ booth’ at 4am, hours after her boss Keir Starmer warned the country that the upcoming budget would be ‘painful’ for her family. England.
It’s a shoddy defense. Many working-class people would rather work hard and be good than party in nightclubs until their 40s. (The drunken, vape-puffing Deputy Prime Minister has boasted he likes a cocktail called Venom: ‘A bottle of Absolut vodka, a bottle of Southern Comfort, ten bottles of Blue WKD and a liter of pure orange juice.’ )
This week, Rayner has tried to justify another questionable decision: going on a free New Year’s holiday to a £2.5million Manhattan penthouse owned by Labor philanthropist Lord Alli.
Laura Kuenssberg interviewed Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner on Sunday
He tried to explain this away by saying Alli was a friend and the trip was ‘personal’ (very personal, it would appear, as he sneaked his boyfriend, former Corbynista Labor MP Sam Tarry, into his apartment, too).
Amazingly, Rayner even tried to claim that he had been ‘very transparent’ when announcing the five-night jolly, insisting that – strictly speaking – he had no obligation to report on the Register of Members’ Financial Interests.
Pressed last weekend by the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg about this and the many recent examples of Labor frontbenchers burning free gifts, Rayner said: ‘Gifts and donations have been a factor in our political life for some time. We can debate that. I come from a very working class background, to stand as deputy leader, to get that position, I have to accept donations.’
It’s one thing to argue that it takes a bit of money to run a campaign. It is quite another to suggest that you need a luxurious jaunt to the Big Apple because you grew up poor from some.
Well, Rayner comes from a Stockport council estate, had a baby at 16 and left school with no qualifications. He spent some time as a care worker and then rose through the ranks at trade union giant Unison.
He never achieved anything concrete beyond his own career – but he was clearly successful. Why can’t he be satisfied?
And now we learn – thanks to Andrew Pierce’s brilliant scoop in the Mail yesterday – that ‘Ange’ has hired a personal photographer, on a £68,000 salary funded by the taxpayer, to improve her online image.
Since the election, whispers have swirled in Labor circles that Rayner is being marginalized by No 10. He has been kept away from some of the serious meetings where the most important decisions are made and is being outshone by Chancellor Rachel Reeves and that big animal. as Home Secretary Yvette Cooper.
In the most humiliating snub of all, Rayner has refused to use Dorneywood, a wonderful place of state grace-and-favor traditionally given to the Deputy Prime Minister, which has been awarded to Reeves instead.
A word of advice: no smart camera is going to change anything, love, as long as you keep going from one crisis to the next, blaming your working-class background when someone calls you.
As someone who worked his way up from abject poverty, I am disgusted by the way Rayner weaponises the roots of his poor behavior. The community I grew up in worked hard and followed every rule and convention. We do not accept owt for now.
The last thing I would do is try to use my background as an excuse to do bad things.
My achievements cannot be attributed to union supporters who protect me at every step or my habit of making harsh and attention-grabbing statements. They are based on a commitment to hard work.
It’s because of the working class background I’ve got: as a nurse, as a businessman, a politician and as an author who has sold 3 million books.
Can anyone imagine Margaret Thatcher, who grew up above a shop, taking freebies or making rude comments in public? I can’t either.
A real working class background creates pride through achievement. And that’s why I have no time for grifters who, by their actions, give a bad name to working people.
Madonna leaves the Dolce & Gabbana party in Milan
Madonna caused a stir at the Dolce & Gabbana show in Milan – partly because of her outfit and partly because of her face. The appearance of the pop legend seems to change every week: now, the skin that can’t be bent, big lips and so many cheeks that it’s amazing that he can eat anything.
As for the racy lingerie sported by the mother-of-six, it looks to me like the net curtains my mother used to buy down at St John’s Market in Liverpool. In his endless efforts to perfect his appearance, the 66-year-old, who has recently suffered from health problems, reminds me of nothing more than Michael Jackson. I hope he’s okay.
Ruth Wilson as Emily Maitlis and Michael Sheen as Prince Andrew in A Very Royal Scandal
Do we need another dramatization of Prince Andrew’s infamous interview with Emily Maitlis – which ended his career as a working royal? I don’t think so – although it’s clear Emily likes to replay this outdated record whenever the opportunity arises in her desperation to stay relevant.
At the Cliveden Literary Festival last weekend, Rachel Weisz (Mrs Daniel Craig) was interviewed by La Maitlis herself – and revealed that she feels ‘very much’ for Prince Andrew after watching the new Amazon series A Very Royal Scandal, in which he stars. Michael Sheen. However, the reality is that Andrew is dating a convicted pedophile and his career in public life is over. Having to live with the consequences of our actions can be a painful lesson.
Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia in Star Wars and, right, Claudia Winkleman in Strictly Come Dancing on Friday
Saturday night Strictly may have had the lowest viewing figures for a show during its opening week – just 6.7 million tuned in. But the magic is still there: JLS star JB Gill’s waltz with friend Amy Dowden to Leo Sayer’s When I Need You steals the show. And you may have noticed how Claudia Winkleman’s cream-colored outfit and new hairstyle resemble Princess Leia in Star Wars.
Strictly was filmed on the George Lucas Stage at Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire – named after the creator of the hugely successful franchise. Is clever Claudia trying to give her opening show an extra push on social media?
Judging by his ratings, he needs the Troops to join him in the next few weeks – but the early signs are promising.
As pensioners face a miserable season without fuel allowances taken away from them Rachel Reeves – who happily received £7,500 for new clothes from Labor donor Juliet Rosenfeld – spared a thought for MPs on £91,000 a year who are now moaning about the Westminster chill office and demanding new electric heaters.
It’s true that a room near a river in a draughty Victorian building can be very cold, so here’s an idea. Maybe the Speaker’s Office should determine which lawmakers get a new heater based on how those lawmakers voted for their winter fuel allowance. Those who hope to keep pensioners warm can get it – while those who think old people should be shivering in the cold need to learn what it feels like.
