Rayner confronted over claims she broke guidelines over donor funded New York vacation

Angela Rayner has said she didn’t break the rules over a New York holiday funded by a wealthy Labour donor.

The Deputy PM stayed at the $2.5 million New York apartment owned by Lord Alli over New Year while on a personal getaway, which she registered under Parliament’s rules. But she initially failed to declare that she was joined by on-off boyfriend Sam Tarry, the former Ilford South MP, according to the Sunday Times.

It comes after days of criticism over Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria’s decision to accept high-end clothes and glasses from Lord Alli. No10 has now said the PM, Ms Rayner and Chancellor Rachel Reeves will refuse future gifts of this kind.

Speaking on the first day of Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool, Ms Rayner told the BBC: “I was on holiday in New York. I paid for my holiday in New York but as friends do, a friend allowed me to say. I often allow people to stay at mine. But what I felt and I went beyond the rules, is because that person had donated to my deputy leadership (Lord Alli), who happens to be a friend and is a politician in their own right, I felt I should declare it.”

Asked if she broke the rules by failing to declare Mr Tarry stayed at the apartment, she said: “I don’t believe I broke any rules. I had use of the apartment and I disclosed I had use of the apartment. In fact I think I was overly transparent because I think it was important, despite it being a personal holiday, because that person had already donated to me in the past for my deputy leadership campaign.”

The Deputy Labour leader said she understood people were angry about the donations row but gifts were “a feature of our politics”. She said: “I get that people are frustrated, in particular the circumstances that we’re in, but donations for gifts and hospitality and monetary donations have been a feature of our politics for a very long time. People can look it up and see what people have had donations for, and the transparency is really important.”

Ms Rayner added: “I get that people are angry, I get that people are upset. “I think the transparency is there so people can see that. Now, if there is a national debate about how we fund politics and how we do that, and I hear that people are frustrated with that, but we have a system at the moment that says if you get donations, that has to be declared and the rules have to apply to everybody.”

Ms Rayner, who comes from a working class background, said she had needed to accept donations to meet the costs of running her deputy leadership bid.

After swirling rumours of strife between ministers, Ms Rayner insisted she wasn’t being forced out. “I hear this nonsense in the news that I’m being pushed out,” she said. “I’ve had this ever since I was elected as deputy leader. I’m not being pushed out.”

Ms Rayner also said the PM’s top aide Sue Gray would still be in post at Christmas after a flurry of negative briefings. She said Ms Gray was doing an “incredible” job and she has a “huge amount of respect in the cabinet”. The Deputy PM said, as a former trade union rep, she was angry that Ms Gray was being “demonised”.

Separately, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson was forced to defend accepting cash from Lord Alli for two parties for her birthday, which were held “in a work context”.

Ms Phillipson, who received a £14,000 donation from the peer to fund a 40th birthday event and another reception, both attended by politicians, journalists and unions, told Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips: “The reason that we can have this conversation is because colleagues have followed the rules. I followed the rules. I’ve set out in the register of interests what donations were for, who they were from, and that’s there for the public to see.

“What I would say is that, of course, it is frustrating to be having this conversation with you this morning, not talking about the wider agenda that we’re setting up here in Liverpool, because we have delivered an awful lot in the very short space of time that we have been in government. And of course, this is a distraction.” She said she celebrated her birthday by going out for a pizza with her husband and kids.