Angela Rayner Stabs Starmer — But Exposes Herself Too

Angela Rayner was always coming for Keir Starmer. Yesterday, she finally struck — and the fallout may finish them both.

Her intervention over the Commons vote on Peter Mandelson detonated inside Labour. By demanding the release of documents Starmer had fought to keep hidden — muttering darkly about “national security” and “international relations” — Rayner forced a humiliating climbdown from a prime minister already drowning in U-turns.

Starmer folded. Again. Another authority-sapping retreat, banked in public, watched by a party that can now smell weakness. Politically, he looks shattered.

Rayner didn’t just challenge her leader — she signalled she was prepared to vote with the Conservatives against him. The same Tories she once dismissed as “scum”. Principle, it turns out, is flexible when ambition is on the line.

The move instantly reignited talk of Rayner as Labour’s next leader. Activists love her. She’s raw, blunt, and — unlike Starmer — speaks human. In a party desperate for blood and drama, that counts.

But Labour’s bigger problem hasn’t gone away. It’s become the party of sleaze.

Mandelson isn’t a minor embarrassment — he’s a walking scandal. A serial fixer who shared cabinet-level secrets with Jeffrey Epstein while angling for influence and cash. He’s resigned twice, been sacked once, and yet Labour keeps dragging him back like a cursed heirloom.

Starmer didn’t just tolerate Mandelson. He embraced him.

And Rayner? She may not be Mandelson, but her own past isn’t clean. Dodging £40,000 in stamp duty while pushing higher taxes on everyone else still stinks — especially for a party claiming moral renewal.

Rayner may think she’s marching toward Number 10. But as Mandelson drags Labour further into the mud, voters are being reminded that this isn’t just Starmer’s rot.

It’s the whole project.

Key Takeaways

• Rayner’s Commons intervention humiliated Starmer and exposed his weakness.

• Mandelson remains a toxic symbol of Labour sleaze and bad judgement.

• Rayner’s own tax scandal undermines any claim to moral authority.

SOURCE: DAILY EXPRESS

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