Angela Rayner says Starmer should ‘reflect on’ stepping aside after HMRC clears her over tax affairs - UK politics live

Good morning. Today it looks as though the phoney Labour leadership contest that has been bubbling away at least since Sunday may finally turn into a real one. Westminster is braced for Wes Streeting , the health secretary, to announce that he is standing – although journalists are not yet 100% certain it will happen. This morning, in a joint scoop, the Guardian and ITV had news that could affect Streeting’s calculations. As Pippa Crerar reports, Angela Rayner , the former deputy PM, has been has been cleared by HMRC of deliberate wrongdoing or carelessness over her tax affairs. In an interview with Pippa, Rayner said that she would not challenge Starmer herself. But she said she wanted to see change, “action, not just words”. Asked whether Starmer should step aside, she said: “Keir will have to reflect on that.” If there is a contest, Rayner did not rule out being a candidate, but she also hinted that she might back someone else. She said: double quotation mark I’ll play my part in doing everything we possibly can to deliver the change, because it’s not a personal ambition, I know the difference it makes. Whatever role I can play, I will keep pushing and pushing hard because I want the people out there at the moment who are really struggling … to know that I’m putting all my energy into fighting for them. Rayner has hinted that she would be happy for Andy Burnham (who, like her, is on Labour’s soft-left wing – Streeting is identified with Labour’s right) to replace Starmer. …