Buying council home was ‘proud second’ says Labour’s Angela Rayner

On Feb 25, 2024

Angela Rayner has mentioned shopping for her council home in 2007 was a “proud moment” in her life as she hit again at claims of hypocrisy.

The Labour Deputy chief mentioned she was “not ashamed” after experiences she bought her ex-home in Stockport, Greater Manchester, for a revenue of £48,000. Details of the sale are included in a biography of Ms Rayner, “Red Queen”, by the billionaire former Tory deputy chairman Lord Michael Ashcroft, in accordance with the Mail on Sunday.

Responding, she mentioned: “It’s clear that Lord Ashcroft and his friends not only take an unhealthy interest in my family – but want to kick down at people like me who graft hard in tough circumstances to get on in life. I won’t let them”. In a defiant response on Twitter /X, she mentioned: “Being able to buy my council house back in 2007 was a proud moment for me. I worked hard, saved and bought it by the book.”

The Shadow Levelling Up Secretary insisted Labour believes individuals who reside in council homes ought to have the chance to purchase their very own dwelling. Last 12 months Labour floated the concept of reforming the Right to Buy coverage launched by the Tory PM Margaret Thatcher within the Eighties.

Ms Rayner mentioned: “We’ve said we’ll review the unfair additional market discounts of up to 60% the Tories introduced in 2012, long after I was able to exercise the right to buy (25%) under the old system. That’s not hypocrisy, it’s the right thing to do”. She he additionally slammed the Tories for placing the “dream of a secure home out of reach for so many others” after 14 years in energy.

It comes as Keir Starmer and Ms Rayner go to a housing improvement within the West Midlands on Monday. The Labour chief will hit out on the Tories’ dire document on housing and the choice by Rishi Sunak to scrap nationwide home constructing targets.

He will say: “My mum and dad enjoyed the stability of a home they owned and a faith that their kids would have more opportunity than they did. And it wasn’t just them, it’s engrained in the British psyche – you work hard, you can get on . Work will pay. Life will give you chances.

“The Conservative Party ’s economic choices run completely against those values. Meanwhile, their promises on levelling up are empty. The Tories aren’t just betting the house, they’re betting yours.”