Starmer refuses to say he'll sack Rayner if she broke ministerial code

Keir Starmer has indicated he could sack Angela Rayner.

Keir Starmer has refused to confirm that he would sack Angela Rayner as housing secretary – and deputy PM- even if the government’s ethics adviser finds that she has broken the ministerial code.

In an interview with the BBC, Starmer said he would “make a decision on what I see” in a report expected to be published as soon as tomorrow after he was asked whether Rayner’s position was tenable following her admission that she underpaid stamp duty .

The prime minister – who declined to be drawn on his deputy’s future when asked five times by the BBC – said he would reach a decision after the ethics watchdog Sir Laurie Magnus writes up his report on the ordeal.

“I do think in the end we need to establish the facts, which the indepen