FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
After days of controversy and denials, Labour Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has admitted to evading taxes on her seaside home and self-declared herself to the Ethics Oversight Commission. The number two in Keir Starmer's government had declared the house as her main residence, thus avoiding paying 40,000 pounds (almost 50,000 euros) in taxes.
She has said it was a mistake, that she was badly advised by her lawyers, and that she is ready to repay the full amount due. But it is a great shame, especially since she is also responsible for construction and the fight against corruption. This ugly story could now cost her her job and casts an even more negative light on a government that is already at an all-time low in popularity.
But there is much more to this scandal, from internal squabbles within the Labour Party over a hypothetical post-Starmer era to the insinuations of classism and sexism following the witch hunt launched against Rayner. Because the media, particularly the right-wing ones, are obsessed with the deputy prime minister: whether she is photographed DJing in a nightclub or smoking an e-cigarette on a small boat, they will not let her get away with it. And just yesterday morning, the front page of every English newspaper featured a picture of her in one of her most bizarre outfits, from green trousers to pointy glasses to colorful shoes.
In fact, Angela is an extraordinary character, certainly exaggerated: a single mother at 16, she leaves school and becomes a carer; she gets involved in unions, gets noticed, rises through their ranks and is elected to Parliament, eventually becoming deputy leader of the Labour Party and, after winning last year's election, deputy prime minister.
Lini një Përgjigje