Rayner calls for investigation into Prime Minister’s conduct after ‘political attack’ on Sadiq Khan

MP for Ashton and Failsworth, Angela Rayner

Ashton and Failsworth MP Angela Rayner, Labour’s Deputy Leader and Party Chair, has accused the Prime Minister of breaching the Ministerial Code during an unprompted political attack on Labour candidate for Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.

On Monday evening (April 5), at a Downing Street press conference on Covid-19, the Prime Minister accused the incumbent Mayor of creating a ‘black hole’ in Transport for London (TfL) finances, an attack which Rayner called ‘false’.

In a letter to the Cabinet Secretary, Rayner called for an investigation into the incident and requested that the Prime Minister issue a public apology for misusing public resources for party political gain and misleading the public. 

Ministers are bound by the Ministerial Code, arbitrated by the Prime Minister, which prevents ministers from using government resources for party political campaigning.

The Code states: ‘official facilities and resources may not be used for the dissemination of party political material’.

The Prime Minister used the new £2.6m Downing Street press room to attack the Labour candidate on primetime BBC television - an organisation bound by strict impartiality rules.

In her letter, Ms Rayner states that in the four years Sadiq Khan was Mayor before Covid hit, he reduced the operating deficit of TfL, left by the previous Mayor, by 71 per cent and increased cash reserves by 13 per cent.

While the Prime Minister was Mayor of London in 2015 he reportedly gave TfL’s £700m per year direct grant back to the Treasury.

This means that London has been the only major city in western Europe that hasn’t received direct Government funding to run day-to-day transport services in the last few years.

As a result, it relies very heavily on passenger fares to pay for the services that are run and was hit hard by a 95% fall in passenger numbers during the pandemic. 

Last month the entire Cabinet was accused of breaching the Ministerial Code for failing to declare financial interests.

Labour Party analysis shows that during the coronavirus crisis £1.9bn in Government contracts has been awarded to companies with links to the Conservative Party.

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