A shocking revelation was unearthed by the i Paper on Thursday that homelessness minister Rushanara Ali had evicted her tenants before hiking up the rent on her east London property by £700.
The Conservatives promptly called on the Bethnal Green and Stepney MP to resign, with their party chair (who is also a landlord) saying: “You can’t say those things, then do the opposite in practice as a landlord. She’s got to resign.”
It’s not hard to spot the hypocrisy. A minister who has called for more protection of tenants now accused of exploiting her own will read very badly.
Politics latest: First migrants set for deportation to France detained
But on Thursday, two cabinet ministers came to her defence. Rachel Reeves and Yvette Cooper stated that, while they did not know all the facts, they understood she had complied with the law. It seems she will also not be referring herself to the ministerial standards adviser for an investigation.
Those laws, though – Labour was hoping to change. The Renters’ Reform Bill, which is set to become law next year, is designed to stop the exploitation of the private rental market, with the new regulations aiming to stop landlords from re-letting their property at an increased rental price within six months of evicting tenants to sell it.
And it’s particularly awkward for Labour, as this is not their first indiscretion within their ranks for bad landlord practice.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper defends minister Rushanara Ali
A BBC investigation found that the MP Jas Athwal had rented properties infested with ants and riddled with black mould. He said he was “shocked” by the findings of the investigation and had been “unaware” of the state of the properties, and that some licences were out of date, and he would repair the properties.
Ms Ali herself had previously criticised private landlords, but after the general election, Labour became the biggest party of landlords.
According to parliament’s register of interests, there are 85 MPs who declare themselves as landlords, or 13% of parliamentarians who own 184 rental properties between them. And Jas Athwal is the biggest landlord out of them all, renting out 15 residential properties and three commercial properties.
Labour has 44 landlords, 11% of its 404 MPs, the Tory party has 28, a quarter of its 121 MPs, and the Liberal Democrats have eight among their 72 MPs.
The government insists Ms Ali has done everything in accordance with the law, and there is no evidence to suggest her conduct was illegal. But Labour need to be careful not to let hypocrisy in their ranks be something that sticks.
Read more:
Chancellor doesn’t rule out raising gambling taxes
First migrants detained under returns deal with France
Grooming gangs: Jess Phillips condemns ‘idiot’ councils
Nothing has emerged so far that’s such an explicit rule break that it would trigger an automatic sacking or resignation and a spokesperson for Ms Ali said she takes her responsibilities seriously and “the tenants stayed for the entirety of their fixed term contract, and were informed they could stay beyond the expiration of the fixed term, while the property remained on the market, but this was not taken up, and they decided to leave the property”.
But we have seen this previously when the anti-corruption minister, Tulip Siddiq, eventually resigned after the ministerial standards adviser, Sir Laurie Magnus, ruled she had not broken the ministerial code, but had “inadvertently misled” the public about a flat gifted by an ally of her aunt, Bangladesh’s ousted former prime minister.
The danger for Ms Ali – and by extension, Sir Keir Starmer – is that it may start to look bad just keeping her around, potentially endorsing this behaviour, and she becomes politically paralysed simply by the weight of the allegation.
