Menzies claims should be investigated by police, Labour says as Starmer has full confidence in Rayner - live

Sir Keir Starmer said he has “complete confidence” in Angela Rayner as he faced further questions on the row over whether Labour’s deputy should have paid capital gains tax on the sale of her former council house.

Speaking on a visit to Teeside on Thursday, the Labour leader said Ms Rayner had already answered questions on the row and would fully cooperate with the investigation set up by Greater Manchester Police.

He told broadcasters: “Angela’s answered no end of questions on this, she said she’s happy to answer any further questions. I have complete confidence in her and the police investigation, I think, allows a line to be drawn in relation to this.”

Earlier, Labour demanded that the police launch a probe into allegations a suspended Tory MP misused campaign funds in the latest sleaze scandal to rock Rishi Sunak’s party.

Mark Menzies has lost the Conservative whip after reportedly using thousands of pounds given by donors to fund medical expenses and having made a late-night call to a 78-year-old aide asking for help because he had been locked up by “bad people” demanding money for his release.

Labour chair Anneliese Dodds slammed the “stagnation, scandal and sleaze” engulfing Mr Sunak’s party and asked her Conservative counterpart Richard Holden whether the police had been informed about the allegations, which the party has known about for months.

Key Points

• Starmer: I have complete confidence in Rayner

• Tory MP ‘used campaign funds to pay off bad people'

• Mark Menzies suspended as Conservative Party investigates

• Labour demands police probe into Menzies claims

15:00 , Matt Mathers

We’re finishing our live coverage of the Angela Rayner and Mark Menzies stories for today.

Thanks for reading and join us again soon for all the latest updates. You can follow updates on the Rwanda bill at the link below.

Enjoy the rest of your afternoon.

Rwanda bill: Rishi Sunak doubles down on refusal to help Afghan heroes - live

09:22 , Matt Mathers

Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s live politics coverage.

Today we’re covering the suspension of Mark Menzies over claims he misused campaign funds, the continuing police investigation into the sale of Angela Rayner’s former council house and other stories from Westminster and elsewhere.

Stay tuned for all the latest updates.

In full: MP Mark Menzies loses Tory whip as party investigates claims he misused funds

09:23 , Matt Mathers

A Tory MP has had the whip suspended over claims he misused campaign funds in the latest sleaze scandal to rock Rishi Sunak’s party.

Mark Menzies is alleged to have used thousands of pounds given by donors to fund medical expenses and to have made a late-night call to a 78-year-old aide asking for help because he had been locked up by “bad people” demanding money for his release.

The Fylde MP disputes the allegations reported by The Times, but the Conservative Party has launched an investigation into the claims.

Read the full report here:

MP Mark Menzies loses Tory whip as party investigates claims he misused funds

ICYMI: Keir Starmer accuses Rishi Sunak of ‘smears’ over Angela Rayner tax row

09:24 , Matt Mathers

Sir Keir Starmer mounted his strongest defence of Angela Rayner on Wednesday, accusing “billionaire” Rishi Sunak of “smearing a working-class woman” amid a row about her former living arrangements.

As the police confirmed they are investigating multiple allegations about Ms Rayner’s former council house, the Labour leader accused the PM himself of having used “schemes to avoid millions of pounds in tax”.

Full report:

Keir Starmer accuses Rishi Sunak of ‘smears’ over Angela Rayner tax row

Mark Menzies: Who is the Tory MP suspended over alleged misuse of funds?

09:29 , Matt Mathers

Mr Menzies is the Ayrshire-born Tory MP for Fylde, Lancashire, who won his seat at the 2010 general election.

The University of Glasgow graduate spent years at some of Britain’s biggest supermarkets including Marks & Spencer, which he joined as a graduate trainee in 1994 .

He has been an active member of the Conservative Party since 1987 and was president of his university’s Conservative Association.

Full report:

Mark Menzies: Who is the Fylde Tory MP suspended over alleged misuse of funds?

Watch: Liz Truss calls on David Cameron to give Israel more support after Iran attack

09:30 , Matt Mathers

Liz Truss calls on David Cameron to give Israel more support after Iran attack

Three-quarters of public fear misinformation will affect UK elections – report

09:40 , Matt Mathers

More than three-quarters of people fear misinformation and deepfakes will affect forthcoming elections and interfere with the democratic process, according to a new report.

The Future Of Trust study, carried out by tech firm Adobe, found that 94 per cent of people it surveyed in the UK want the government to work with tech companies to regulate artificial intelligence (AI) because of fears around misinformation.

The survey of 2,000 UK adults found that 81 per cent agree that misinformation is one of the biggest threats facing society, with 76 per cent saying they currently find it hard to verify whether online content they see is trustworthy.

A number of high-profile UK politicians, including prime minister Rishi Sunak, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and London mayor Sadiq Khan, have been the subject of deepfakes in attempts to spread misinformation about them online.

Rayner will claim kitchen renovation meant no capital gains tax was due on sale of house - report

09:52 , Matt Mathers

Angela Rayner will reportedly claim that she was not required to pay capital gains when she sold her former council house because the tax was offset with a kitchen renovation.

The Times reports Labour’s deputy will say that the property revamp meant that there was no tax to pay.

Greater Manchester Police has launched an investigation into the saga and is said to be looking at multiple allegations.

UK must bolster economic defences, deputy PM to warn

10:05 , Matt Mathers

Britain needs to boost its economic defences to counter the “security risks” of globalisation, the deputy prime minister is set to warn.

In a speech on Thursday, Oliver Dowden is expected to set out plans to bolster the UK’s ability to deal with “economic security shocks” such as the rise in energy prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

He was expected to announce new curbs on trade and investment with China and other countries with frosty relations with the UK.

Full report:

UK must bolster economic defences, Deputy PM to warn

Labour ahead on all major political issues - poll

10:25 , Matt Mathers

Labour leads the Conservatives on every major political issue, according to new poll revealing the scale of the challenge facing Rishi Sunak at the general election.

A poll by Tory peer Lord Ashcroft for the Daily Mail found the Tories trailing Labour on the cost of living, NHS and social care and immigration and asylum and other areas traditionally seen as Conservative strengths, such as crime and national security.

Some 34 per cent of voters said Sir Keir Starmer would make the best prime minister, against 19 per cent for Rishi Sunak.

Mark Menzies ‘quite troubled’, Shapps suggests

10:40 , Matt Mathers

Suspended MP Mark Menzies is potentially someone who is “quite troubled,” Grant Shapps has suggested.

The defence secretary was speaking after it was reported that Mr Menzies allegedly used campaign funds to pay off “bad people” after being locked in a flat late at night.

“It sounds to me that there is potentially somebody who’s quite troubled in the mix here,” he told Times Radio.

Watch the clip below:

Cut foreign aid budget to boost defence spending - Jenrick

10:55 , Matt Mathers

Future Tory leadership hopeful Robert Jenrick has suggested the foreign aid budget should be cut to fund a boost in defence spending.

The former immigration minister told The Sun’s Never Mind the Ballots podcast that a third of the foreign aid budget should be immediately diverted to bolster Britain’s defences.

He said: “To govern is to choose and if you’re faced with a difficult choice, I think protecting our national security and investing in defence is more important today than our international aid budget.”

Starmer to set out plans for ‘historic’ £1.8bn investment in Britain’s ports

11:10 , Matt Mathers

Labour plans to kick-start a “historic investment” in Britain’s ports as part of its green spending plans.

The party has already committed to spending £1.8 billion over five years on upgrading the UK’s port infrastructure if it wins the next election as part of its flagship Green Prosperity Plan.

On a visit to the North East of England on Thursday, Sir Keir Starmer is expected to say the money will lead to the most significant upgrade of Britain’s ports in a generation and billions more pouring into the UK’s energy industry from the private sector.

MPs hear call for creation of minister to ‘protect and cherish’ flags

11:20 , Matt Mathers

MPs have heard a call for the creation of a ministerial post to oversee use of national symbols as well as introducing legislation to protect the “cherished national flag”.

Conservative MP Andrew Rosindell (Romford) said people were “quite angered” by attempts to alter the appearance of flags.

In the Commons on Thursday, Mr Rosindell said: “I think many people will be quite angered by the way certain national organisations have tried to change our national flags – the cross of St George and the Union Jack.

“Isn’t it time that we protected and cherished our national symbols by appointing a minister of the crown to oversee this from the Cabinet Office. And will he also look at the Union Flag Bill of 2008 which enshrines in legislation the protection of our cherished national flag?”

Labour ‘confident’ Rayner has done nothing wrong - Miliband

11:35 , Matt Mathers

The Labour Party is “confident” that Angela Rayner has done nothing wrong and will exonerated by the police, Ed Miliband has said.

The shadow energy security and net zero security defended his colleague while promoting Labour’s plans for UK ports.

“She has been clear. She is confident. We are confident, she has done nothing wrong. She has complied with the rules,” Mr Miliband told Sky News.

Watch more of the interview here.

Watch: Deputy PM delivers speech on economic defences

11:41 , Matt Mathers

As we reported earlier, deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden is delivering a speech in which he was expected to outline plans to bolster the UK’s ability to deal with “economic security shocks” such as the rise in energy prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

He was also expected to announce new curbs on trade and investment with China and other countries with frosty relations with the UK.

You can watch his speech at Chatham House live on our YouTube channel:

Live: Oliver Dowden speaks on economic security at Chatham House

‘I just don’t know the answer’: Shapps unable to say if police should investigate Menzies claims

11:50 , Matt Mathers

Grant Shapps said “I just don’t know the answer” when asked if police should investigate allegations that one of his colleagues used campaign funds to pay off “bad people” who had locked him in a flat late at night.

The defence secretary said he was not privy to any of the details of Mark Menzie’s case but that a process was in place to establish all the facts and that the Conservative Party was investigating the allegations.

Mr Menzies denies any wrongdoing. Watch part of the interview below:

Yet another Tory MP in a sleaze scandal takes us ‘Back to Basics’

12:10 , Matt Mathers

MP Mark Menzies has been suspended by the Tories over allegations he used party funds to pay off ‘bad people’ who locked him in a flat, adding to the impression of a rerun of the Nineties sleaze that led to Blair’s Labour landslide, says John Rentoul

Read John’s piece in full here:

Yet another Tory MP in a sleaze scandal takes us ‘Back to Basics’ | John Rentoul

ICYMI: Mark Menzies: Who is the Tory MP suspended over alleged misuse of funds?

12:40 , Matt Mathers

Mr Menzies is the Ayrshire-born Tory MP for Fylde, Lancashire, who won his seat at the 2010 general election.

The University of Glasgow graduate spent years at some of Britain’s biggest supermarkets including Marks & Spencer, which he joined as a graduate trainee in 1994 .

He has been an active member of the Conservative Party since 1987 and was president of his university’s Conservative Association.

Full report:

Mark Menzies: Who is the Fylde Tory MP suspended over alleged misuse of funds?

Watch: Shapps clashes with Kay Burley over Mark Menzies sleaze scandal - ‘Do you think it is funny?’

13:00 , Matt Mathers

Grant Shapps clashes with Kay Burley over Mark Menzies sleaze scandal

Liz Truss, lettuce and the Deep State: Seven car crash moments from former PM’s book tour Britain’s shor

13:33 , Matt Mathers

In the lead-up to the release of her memoirs, Liz Truss may have spent more days promoting the book than she did serving as prime minister.

The Tory MP, who took over from Boris Johnson in the summer of 2022, offered a look behind the scenes of Ten Years to Save the West in a series of television and radio interviews.

Full report:

Liz Truss, lettuce and Deep State: Seven car crash moments from former PM’s book tour

For the West it’s a nuclear nightmare, but the Israel-Iran conflict is helping their leaders cling to power

13:45 , Matt Mathers

Jack Straw was the first foreign secretary to visit Iran after the 1979 revolution and is used to negotiating with its leaders – even, on one occasion, from a train loo.

Here, he explains why Netanyahu and Khamenei are throwing each other a lifeline to stay in power, and warns we could all pay a terrible price...

Read Jack’s piece in full here:

How the Israel-Iran conflict is helping their leaders cling to power

Police should investigate Menzies claims - Starmer

13:46 , Matt Mathers

Sir Keir Starmer said the police should be involved in the case of MP Mark Menzies, who lost the Tory whip amid allegations he misused campaign funds.

The Labour leader told reporters during a visit to Teesside: “There are obviously a lot of unanswered questions in relation to these allegations. Not least why it seems the Conservative Party took so long to act and whether they’ve reported this to the police, who it seems to me should be involved in this.

“I’ll be honest, there’s a degree of frustration as well. We’re two weeks away from really important political and mayoral elections, where there’s a lot of positive arguments that we want to make about the change we will bring about in these elections.

“And yet again we’re talking about misbehaviour by Tory MPs and if ever you needed evidence of why we need to turn the page on this … and have a fresh start with Labour, I think it’s in these allegations coming out today.”

In full: Angela Rayner to claim kitchen renovation means no tax is due after her council house sale

13:48 , Matt Mathers

Angela Rayner is expected to claim that she did not have to pay capital gains tax when she sold her former house due to a kitchen renovation, as the row over her housing affairs rumbles on.

The deputy Labour leader is likely to argue that enhancements she made to her former council house have offset the tax she would have paid had it not been her primary property, according to TheTimes.

Full report:

Angela Rayner to claim renovation as defence over council house investigation

Westminster sleaze and scandals: All the MPs who are suspended or have lost the whip

14:00 , Matt Mathers

Another day in Westminster, another party whip suspended or withdrawn – as allegations of sleaze, dishonesty or failure to uphold parliamentary standards land yet another MP in hot water.

Mark Menzies, the Tory MP for Fylde and a government trade envoy, is under investigation over allegations that he misused campaign funds and abused his position after making a late-night phone call saying he’d been locked up by “bad people” demanding thousands of pounds.

Full report:

Westminster sleaze and scandals: All the MPs who are suspended or have lost the whip

Starmer says he has ‘complete confidence’ in deputy

14:13 , Matt Mathers

Sir Keir Starmer said he has “complete confidence” in Angela Rayner as he faced further questions on the row over whether Labour’s deputy should have paid capital gains tax on the sale of her former council house.

Speaking on a visit to Teeside on Thursday, the Labour leader said his Ms Rayner had already answered questions on the row and would fully cooperate with the police investigation set up by Greater Manchester Police.

He told broadcasters: “Angela’s answered no eng of questions on this, she said she’s happy to answer any further questions. I have complete confidence in her and the police investigation, I think, allows a line to be drawn in relation to this.”

In full: Labour demands police probe into suspended Tory MP over ‘bad people’ payoff claims

14:15 , Matt Mathers

Labour is demanding a police probe into allegations a suspended Tory MP misused campaign funds in the latest sleaze scandal to rock Rishi Sunak’s party.

Mark Menzies has lost the Conservative whip after reportedly using thousands of pounds given by donors to fund medical expenses and having made a late-night call to a 78-year-old aide asking for help because he had been locked up by “bad people” demanding money for his release.

Full report:

Labour demands police probe into suspended Tory MP over ‘bad people’ payoff claims

Mark Menzies once investigated over claim he got dog drunk

14:40 , Matt Mathers

Suspended MP Mark Menzies was once investigated by police over claims that he got a dog drunk.

The Daily Mirror reported in 2017 that the MP got his friend’s canine intoxicated and left the pet’s owner with a £500 vet bill.

He denied the claims, which he branded “false and malicious” and no charges were brought by police.

The pair were said to have become embroiled in a drunken row that spilled out onto the street.

Mr Menzies said the police dropped their investigation after he supplied them with photographic evidence of his friend giving the dog a selection of alcoholic cocktails.

‘The clue is in the name’: Sunak gives short, sarcastic answer to MPs’squestion about court jurisdiction

14:57 , Matt Mathers

Rishi Sunak told an MP “the clue is in the name” after being asked whether he thought the International Criminal Court was a foreign court.

The prime minister gave the unusually curt and sarcastic answer to a question by the SNP’s Patrick Grady.

In full: Rishi Sunak delays Rwanda flight plans

15:00 , Matt Mathers

Rishi Sunak has been forced to abandon his commitment to get flights off the ground to Rwanda by the end of spring, in a serious blow to the prime minister’s flagship policy.

Downing Street has admitted that the policy is now facing delays as the Lords refused to back down on amendments to the bill, meaning the government will not set out a new timeline for the first flight to take off until it is passed into law.

Full report:

Rishi Sunak delays on Rwanda flights taking off by Spring