Angela Rayner's housing and planning policies threaten to set Briton against Briton and trigger chaos on every front, according to a new analysis. As Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, she is pursuing a string of policies guaranteed to cause fury and controversy across the country.
Planning laws and traveller sites
Much of the struggle centres on planning laws, which Rayner is accused of riding roughshod over in the belief that “build, baby, build” is the only way to boost growth. Traveller sites are the latest flashpoint.
The Tories say her planning reforms give greater weight to the needs of travelling communities, making it easier for them to set up illegal sites. Shadow housing secretary James Cleverly accused Rayner of being “dishonest” by creating a two-tier planning system stacked against law-abiding residents by allowing “sprawling traveller caravan development on precious green spaces”.
New encampments are already springing up across the country, with locals “living in fear” amid horrendous mess and thefts. Rayner's response was to accuse critics of spreading “fake news designed to stir up tensions in local communities”.
Garden grabbing and green belt
Rayner is overhauling planning laws to allow developers to override limits on the size and appearance of homes built on garden plots. Critics describe it as a recipe for intra-neighbour war on a national scale, resulting in a surge in suburban “garden grabbing”, blighting views and access to light.
She will also make it much easier to build taller blocks and extend existing properties upwards. She is backing plans to allow new metro mayors to overrule local councils to build massive housing estates and tower blocks, crushing local democracy.
She is also smashing green belt restrictions, effectively declaring war on Britain's countryside, while forcing massive AI data centres on communities. District councils are up in arms over her plans to merge them into huge new unitary authorities, which risks increasing taxes and worsening services.
Party and personal controversies
Rayner is even accused of trying to spark a civil war in the Labour Party by openly defying stricter immigration rules introduced by Shabana Mahmood. Softer immigration rules will only worsen the housing shortage she is trying to solve, the analysis argues.
Rayner was renowned for her attacks on MPs who earned money from second jobs, yet she earned £89,000 for speaking engagements, including £20,000 from a financial services firm for just two hours of work. All the money was declared. She also kept the £16,876 severance cash when forced to resign from Keir Starmer's cabinet over her stamp duty bill, and kept the cash when she got her old job back.
The UK now risks descending into a pitched battle as neighbour fights neighbour, developers fight rural communities, travellers bully local councils and Labour ministers fight among themselves, the analysis concludes.
