Angela Rayner 'branded Prince Andrew a nonce'

By Amy Gibbons

Angela Rayner reportedly described the Duke of York as a "nonce" as she lobbied for him to be stripped of his official duties after the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

The United Kingdom's Deputy Prime Minister urged Buckingham Palace and the "upper echelons of the Civil Service" to exclude Prince Andrew from royal service, according to a new book on Sir Keir Starmer's leadership of the Labour Party.

Ms Rayner, then deputy leader of the opposition, is said to have refused to endorse new legislation that would allow the Prince to deputise for the new King.

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While talks were ongoing over the royal arrangements, Ms Rayner is said to have told her team: "I'm not going to vote to keep that nonce on… I can't go back to my constituency and say, yeah, I support that."

Prince Andrew has faced a long-running scandal over allegations he sexually abused a 17-year-old girl, which he has always denied, and his association with Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted paedophile.

He has now been stripped of all royal titles and removed from virtually all facets of royal life.

A "nonce" is a colloquial term for a paedophile. The origin of the word is disputed, but some believe it is an acronym of "Not On Normal Courtyard Exercise", supposedly displayed on the doors of prisoners who should be kept away from other inmates.

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The row arose over the law which makes Queen Camilla and the next four adults in line to the throne – Prince William, Prince Harry, Prince Andrew and Princess Beatrice – counsellors of state.

The Cabinet Office and Buckingham Palace wanted to expand the list to include Princess Anne and Prince Edward, so that neither Harry nor Andrew would be required to fill the King's shoes when he was away.

But Ms Rayner felt she could not support the move – however much she might agree with the intended effect – because she did not want to endorse the Duke of York's place on the list in any capacity.

The revelations are contained in Get In, a new account of Sir Keir's leadership by political journalists Patrick Maguire and Gabriel Pogrund.

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An adviser claimed: "She was very actively reaching out to the Palace, the upper echelons of the civil service, and said she thought this was a huge problem, and that the government needed to address this, and that she would offer cross-party support to make sure it happened.

"That's – to be stereotypical – her working-class view. She's not anti-monarchist, but she doesn't like a paedo."

Ms Rayner is said to have eventually gone "quiet" after an apparent dressing-down from Simon Case, then the cabinet secretary, with an adviser claiming: "She never, ever spoke about the royals like that again."

In the end, Prince Andrew remained as counsellor of state, as did Prince Harry. However, the minister responsible assured Parliament that the British royal family did not want Prince Andrew to serve.

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Starmer 'can't run a bath'

In Get In, the wide-ranging book on Sir Keir's leadership, Ms Rayner is also said to have claimed her boss was so inept he could not run a bath.

In a damning indictment by his inner circle, the Prime Minister was reportedly mocked by his deputy and compared to an "HR manager" by his chief aide.

Ms Rayner, Sir Keir's number two, is said to have questioned his capabilities after a reshuffle row in 2021. Morgan McSweeney, now the No 10 chief of staff, supposedly told a close friend the same year: "What's the point in circling the waggons if you can't last?"

Ms Rayner's damning appraisal of her boss reportedly followed his attempt to sack her as Labour chairman in a controversial reshuffle in 2021.

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The deputy leader was said to have "stormed out" when Sir Keir told her about the demotion, disappearing and switching off her phone.

A close confidant claimed she was ready to launch a coup with the help of the unions, with "a rally of 5000 people ready to go".

As tensions at the top of the party reached crisis point, Ms Rayner settled with a new string of job titles. At that point, she is said to have claimed that Sir Keir was incapable of running a bath, let alone the Opposition.

Starmer: 'I have no ideology'

Sir Keir is said to have admitted he did not have "any ideology at all" just months after he took charge of Labour in 2020, telling an MP: "There's no such thing as Starmerism and there never will be."

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Even Sir Tony Blair, the former prime minister, reportedly said he was in "two minds about Keir" in 2021, branding him "a London human rights lawyer who's not in touch with the people".

The Prime Minister is also said to have hired an acting coach to address his "wooden" public speaking style in 2017 as he secretly prepared to topple Jeremy Corbyn.

Mr McSweeney, who led Sir Keir's leadership bid in 2020 and replaced Sue Gray as his chief of staff last year, reportedly accused his boss of acting more "like an HR manager" than a leader, adding: "What's the point of circling the wagons if you can't last?"

Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, defended Sir Keir when presented with the claims on Sunday (overnight in Australia), insisting he had "a real determination to change the country".

"It's why he set out the Plan for Change with clear action, clear things that he's determined to change across the country," she said.

She added: "Do you know what I think he stands for most? It is, actually, about respect and hard work, and making the country work for working people."

Reeves and Streeting were touted to lead

The book claims that Rachel Reeves, now the Chancellor, and Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, were touted for leadership bids when Sir Keir was embroiled in the "beergate" scandal in 2021.

With the Labour leader having promised to resign if he was fined over an alleged breach of COVID-19 rules, party co-ordinators reportedly agreed that John Healey, then the shadow defence secretary, should be lined up as caretaker.

But colleagues apparently had other ideas. Mr Streeting was said to have won the support of Lord Mandelson, the influential former Cabinet minister, while Ms Reeves was backed by powerful figures in the parliamentary party.

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One MP who urged the Chancellor to stand said: "She was grateful, and she definitely wanted to do it in that moment. She definitely wanted it."

Mr Streeting reportedly confronted Ms Reeves about the prospect of Sir Keir's resignation in the Commons, saying: "We do need to think about what happens in that scenario."

According to the book, the pair never spoke of it again.

Cummings 'bid to make Corbyn PM'

Sir Keir's aides reportedly brokered a secret deal to bring Mr Corbyn back into the fold, with some pushing for him to be readmitted to the party in 2021.

It is also claimed that Dominic Cummings, Boris Johnson's former top adviser, plotted to install Mr Corbyn as prime minister to break a Brexit deadlock in 2019.

If he got his MPs to vote for Theresa May's deal, Mr Cummings is said to have argued that Mr Corbyn could split the Tories and forge a path to No 10.

There, the Labour leader, whose inner circle was reportedly hostile to a second referendum, could see the Brexit process through.

Mr Cummings is said to have drawn up a road map for Mr Corbyn's route to power, promising: "Tory civil war guaranteed for years."

But eventually, the Labour leader did endorse a second vote, paving the way for a landslide Johnson victory and, ironically, the ascendancy of Sir Keir.

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