Rachel Reeves is still yet to surface since she was engulfed in an illegal lettings scandal last week – leading to her being dubbed the ‘submarine’ Chancellor.
She has not appeared in public since the Daily Mail revealed she had been renting out her south London home for £3,200 a month without the proper licence.
Ms Reeves initially said she was unaware she needed to get a ‘selective’ licence for the property, which she rented out when she moved into 11 Downing Street last year.
But emails between her husband and the letting agency were later published that showed the couple were informed about the need for a licence.
Despite the Chancellor backtracking on her previous explanation for the error, Sir Keir Starmer moved to prop up his close ally by telling her she faces no further action.
The Prime Minister resisted calls to launch a formal investigation into the row as he deemed Ms Reeves’ mistake an ‘inadvertent’ failure to obtain a rental licence.
But the Chancellor – who is less than a month away from announcing a critical Budget – still faces the prospect of being dogged by the row.
Failing to obtain a licence is a criminal offence and can be punished with an unlimited fine on prosecution, a fine of £30,000 as an alternative to prosecution, or an order to pay back up to 12 months’ rent – almost £38,000 in Ms Reeves’ case.
Rachel Reeves is still yet to surface since she was engulfed in an illegal lettings scandal last week – leading to her being dubbed the ‘submarine’ Chancellor
The Chancellor has not appeared in public since the Daily Mail revealed she had been renting out her south London home for £3,200 a month without the proper licence
Southwark Council advises tenants to apply to a tribunal to recoup rent if a landlord has not had an appropriate licence.
The local authority last week indicated Ms Reeves is unlikely to be fined as it suggested enforcement action is reserved for landlords who ignore warning letters about not having a licence.
Harvey & Wheeler, the letting agency involved in Ms Reeves’s rental arrangements for her family home in Dulwich, has attempted to shoulder blame for the ‘oversight’.
It said a staff member had offered to apply for a licence on behalf of Ms Reeves and her husband, but then ‘suddenly resigned’ before the tenancy began.
Although she has not been seen in public since the scandal broke last week, the Chancellor is expected to give a speech on Tuesday.
It means she is likely to face awkward questions about the licence row, as well as a further grilling about her plans for the Budget on 26 November.
Sir Keir last week refused to rule out a manifesto-busting rise to income tax.
During Prime Minister’s Questions, Sir Keir failed to commit to keeping Labour’s pre-election vow to not increase National Insurance, income tax or VAT.
Britons are braced for further tax rises as Ms Reeves faces an increasingly desperate scramble to fill a multi-billion pound gap in the public finances.
The Office for Budget Responsibility watchdog is said to have downgraded productivity forecasts by 0.3 percentage points – adding an estimated £21billion to the black hole.
Sluggish economic growth, rising debt costs and humiliating U-turns on efforts to curb the benefits bill could add a further £20billion to the gap Ms Reeves has to fill.