1 week ago
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Keir Starmer’s adviser on ministerial standards is looking at new information about Rachel Reeves’s failure to get a licence to rent out her family home which has “come to light”, Downing Street said, adding that the prime minister still has full confidence in his chancellor.
A No 10 spokesperson said: “Following a review of emails sent and received by the chancellor’s husband, new information has come to light. This has now been passed to the prime minister and his independent adviser. It would be inappropriate to comment further.”
It is understood that the emails are between Reeves’s husband, Nicholas Joicey, a senior civil servant, and the lettings agency used by the couple to let their family home in south London after they moved to Downing Street.
Officials believe that the messages, which will be published later on Thursday, will back up Reeves’ case that her failure to obtain the necessary licence from Southwark council was inadvertent.
In other seemingly positive news for Reeves, Southwark council said in a statement that while it did not comment on individual cases, it only pressed for action such as fines when someone did not apply for a licence within 21 days of being warned they needed one, or if a property was found to be in an unsafe condition. Neither is believed to be the case for Reeves.
The Conservatives have argued that if Reeves was fined she should be dismissed, citing Starmer’s argument after Boris Johnson’s fine for breaching Covid rules that “lawbreakers cannot be lawmakers”.
In an exchange of letters with Starmer late on Wednesday, Reeves said that when she rented out the house she had not been told by the lettings agency that homes in some parts of Southwark needed a £945 licence before they were rented out.
In his reply, Starmer said that, having consulted his independent adviser on ministerial interests, Laurie Magnus, he was satisfied the breach was “inadvertent” and that given her prompt action once she knew about the licence, an apology was sufficient.
Magnus will now look at the newly uncovered emails. “It’s right that the independent adviser on ministerial standards looks at all the relevant correspondence on this matter,” the No 10 spokesperson said, refusing to give any details about what they contained.
At an earlier briefing on Thursday, Downing Street refused to say whether Magnus had actually seen any evidence to support Reeves’s claim of having made an inadvertent mistake, or had taken her word for it.
No 10 also declined to say whether Reeves contravened the ministerial code or had broken the law in breaching Southwark council rules.
Pressed on whether Magnus had seen any evidence to back up Reeves’s case, a Downing Street spokesperson refused to say, noting that Magnus’s advice was always confidential.
“The chancellor rightly acted with urgency on this matter,” he said. “She has set out that it was an inadvertent mistake, and as soon as it was brought to her attention, took immediate action, applying for the licence and speaking to the independent adviser on ministerial standards.
“She made the prime minister aware of this issue at the earliest opportunity, at which point he immediately sought advice from the independent adviser, who has advised that in the light of the chancellor’s prompt action to rectify the position, including her apology, that further investigation is not necessary. The ministerial code makes clear that in certain circumstances, an apology is a sufficient resolution.”
Asked again what evidence Magnus had seen, the spokesperson repeated the same lines several more times.
