Rayner demands PM comes clean over Jennifer Arcuri claims

Ashton and Failsworth MP Angela Rayner

MP for Ashton-under-Lyne, including Droylsden and Failsworth, Angela Rayner, has today written to the Prime Minister demanding that he correct the record, over claims in handling public funds, concerning Jennifer Arcuri. 

Rayner, Labour’s Deputy Leader, is demanding Boris Johnson corrects the record after his Press Secretary stated that the Independent Office for Police Conduct’s report into the matter, regarding a potential breach of the rules in handing public money and access to Jennifer Arcuri, were “untrue and unfounded”.

The report does not include that phrase, and Rayner has demanded that the Prime Minister should now act with “integrity and honesty”, as his Press Secretary claims he has always done, in this matter and correct the record.

Stating that it is vital to ensure “complete probity” in all matters relating to the distribution of taxpayers’ money, Rayner has also urged the Prime Minister to assure the British people that there was no special or preferential treatment on his part in the awarding of public grants or preferential access to Jennifer Arcuri. 

Also requested is that he publish the details of companies who have been awarded government contracts through referral to a special “high priority” and “VIP” lane thanks to existing relationships with Conservative Ministers and Members of Parliament.

Telling the Prime Minister that the British people “deserve to know that taxpayers’ money is spent with honesty and integrity on the basis of what you know, not who you know”, Rayner’s letter points to the £2 billion of taxpayers’ money that has been handed to Conservative Party donors and cronies in government contracts during the pandemic.

There has been recent revelations regarding special access granted to favoured business figures. 

Rayner accuses Boris Johnson and the Tories of cronyism and questions whether any preferential treatment was given to Jennifer Arcuri, saying that it now takes on a “renewed importance”.

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