Agree 100% Redbj. Owning an investment property and putting up the rent is absolutely unremarkable. If the left let themselves think that is a resignable matter they may as well give up.
Its the optics and UK right wing media bias. Sheâs just put another nail in the coffin of Labours government and actively feeds the idea thst âtHeY aRe AlL tHe SaMeâ. This is about being better, showing some balls in the face of the shitstorm the UK is in but she has gone down the line of doing what every other greedy landlord has done.
Meanwhile, if it had been a Reform or Tory MP there would not have been a whimper about it.
maybeâŚor maybe as a society we need to move on from â the opticsâ being so bloody importantâŚ
worrying about âthe opticsâ over substance is a road to unproductivityâŚ
i know nothing about how capable she is at her jobâŚbut thats what she should be judged onâŚher role in governmentâŚ
just humour me here, lets play devils advocateâŚshes terrible at her job, but the reason for her being moved on is her side investments, ok, no worries, its a win winâŚnext minister comes in, shes a revelation, housing becomes affordable, homelessness is down, everyones happy, turns out she has an investment property and she raised the rentâŚsack her?
Not sure if its true⌠but I read a report that she told her long standing tenant the property was being put up for sale (form of eviction apparently) and they need to vacate the property etc.
Six months later she re-let the same property at an increased rent by as much as ÂŁ600 pcm to a new tenantâŚ
I believe it is this âloopholeâ practice of terminating a sitting tenants lease that the Government are/were determined to stamp outâŚ
Precisely and this is why she is a hypocrite..she supported the bill.
From the Guardian.
Ali had been widely criticised for apparent hypocrisy. She has spoken out against private renters being exploited and said the Labour government would âempower people to challenge unreasonable rent increasesâ.
The rentersâ rights bill, which is due to come into force next year, will ban landlords who have ended a tenancy in order to sell a property from relisting it for a higher rent. The bill will also end the use of fixed-term tenancies.
Thatâs not hypocritical. I can support higher taxation and closing loopholes etc but still, legally, look to take advantage of tax loopholes in the interim.
But the optics are awful and the UK is currently a political mess with regards to corruption (previous government especially) and the whole idea of a political and ruling class rigging and milking the system. Its partly why Farage appeals. He deliberately portrays an image of being for working people (he isnt) and also why Labour are failing. They are perceived to no longer represent working people.
Labour promised a whiter than white administration. This doesnât look like that was accurate at all.
So what. Labor need to remind that the cons caused the crap and garage is much more nefarious. Tying themselves up in knots over minor indiscretions gives fuel to the opposition - they should come out on the attack about con fraud etc.
It actually reminds me of the Nicola Murray character in The Thick Of It. I think with her, she wanted to send her child to a private school when promoting a policy about comprehensives.
It is about optics rather than legality. MP is a bit of an odd job, and many will have properties that they rent out, simply because they are expected to be away from home for long periods.
The same applies to expenses.
However, I would expect that they have an adviser telling them what is appropriate.
Just another politician with their snout in the trough. Thereâs nothing new here.
From the BBC
"A source close to Ali said the previous fixed-term contract had been ended because the house was being put up for sale and the tenants had been told they could stay on a rolling basis while the house was on the market, but they had chosen to go.
The house was put on the market in November 2024 with an asking price of ÂŁ914,995 but that was reduced in February by ÂŁ20,000 and the i Paper said it had only been re-listed as a rental because it had not sold."
Was the house still available for sale when it had been made available for renting? Presumably there is a mortgage on the property which still needs paying?
They have been and people are tired of it now. It no longer holds water.
And @jaffods comment proves my point exactly. That is exactly what Labour did not need to be doing but here we are.
And just to further the point @redfanmanâs comment proves that details and accuracy dont really matter over the optics. Damage is done.
JD Vance talking about free speech? The cheek of it. Trumpâs Republicans are litigating and doing their utmost to bend/bully everyone to their warped perspective, while suppressing opponents. The UK is light years ahead of that shameless nonsense.
As for the property thing, my take is it isnât that bad, but it is opening the door to justified criticism. On the one hand is a landlord, putting the rent up on a tenant. On the other hand it is a government official, working in a department trying to solve the housing problem, and very much demonstrating that she is personally part of the problem.
Not illegal, not terrible, but not great either.
Mind you, I would snap your hand off to exchange this level of political problem with what is happening in the States.
Makes me think what is the goal here. Obvious links between Farage and Trumpâs people.
They as a group, and I include Putin, oil state royalty, and so on simlly juat want it all by the looks of it to me.
Ungovernable nation.
Unfathomably stupid.