Sir Keir Starmer has informed Rachel Reeves that no further action will be taken regarding her unintentional failure to obtain a rental license. Initially, there was regret that emails regarding the arrangement were not shared with him. Reeves had previously confessed to inadvertently breaching local housing regulations by not securing the necessary license for her family property.
Reeves disclosed emails on Thursday exchanged between her husband and the agency, indicating that the agency had agreed to apply for the license. She took full responsibility for the oversight. In a letter to Sir Keir Starmer, Reeves explained that the letting agency and her husband had confirmed that the application for the selective license was discussed but not pursued due to a staff departure.
The Prime Minister, after reviewing the correspondence, considered it an inadvertent failure on Reeves’ part, for which she had apologized and was rectifying. The Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards, Sir Laurie Magnus, concurred and saw no need for further action. He believed Reeves had made an unfortunate but unintentional error and found no evidence of bad faith in her contradictory statements about her awareness of the license requirement.
Sir Laurie pointed out that emails revealed Reeves’ husband was indeed aware of the license need and had instructed the estate agency accordingly, though he had forgotten this due to a busy schedule. He emphasized that despite some confusion from information provided on different days, there was no indication of bad faith. Sir Keir, consulting his ethics adviser, decided not to launch a probe and confirmed confidence in Reeves. Downing Street assured that Reeves would present the Budget on November 26.
