Keir Starmer has informed Rachel Reeves that there will be no further repercussions for her unintentional oversight in securing a rental license. He expressed disappointment that the emails regarding the arrangement were not initially shared with him.
Previously, Ms. Reeves had acknowledged mistakenly violating local council housing regulations by failing to obtain a necessary rental license for her family property. She disclosed emails exchanged between her husband and the agency revealing that the agency had agreed to apply for the license. She also took full responsibility for the oversight.
In a letter to Keir Starmer, Ms. Reeves stated that the letting agency and her husband had correspondence confirming that the agency agreed to apply for the license on their behalf but did not proceed with the application due to a staff member leaving the organization. She accepted responsibility for not discovering this information earlier and apologized for the oversight.
The Prime Minister, after reviewing the correspondence, described the situation as an inadvertent failure to obtain the appropriate license, which Ms. Reeves had apologized for and was addressing. The Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards also agreed that no further action was necessary.
Sir Laurie Magnus, the Prime Minister’s independent standards adviser, maintained that Ms. Reeves had made an unfortunate but unintentional error after reviewing the emails. He found no evidence of deceit in Ms. Reeves’s conflicting statements about her awareness of the license requirement.
In response, Keir Starmer expressed satisfaction that the issue could be resolved without launching a probe. Downing Street reaffirmed confidence in Ms. Reeves, ensuring that she will present the Budget on November 26.