• Rayner says she deeply regrets tax mistake.
• Starmer sad to lose “trusted colleague and a true friend”.
• Rayner ruled to have broken the ministerial code.

BIRMINGHAM: British Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner resigned on Friday after saying she deeply regretted her mistake of underpaying property tax on a new home, in a damaging blow for her boss, Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

After Britain’s independent adviser ruled that she had breached the ministerial code by failing to pay the correct tax, there was little Starmer could do to protect his deputy, saying he was “very sad to be losing you from the government”, describing her as a “trusted colleague and a true friend”.

Rayner, 45, is the eighth, and the most senior, ministerial departure from Starmer’s team, and the most damaging yet after the British leader offered her his full support when she was first accused of avoiding 40,000 pounds ($54,000) in tax on the transaction.

Starmer has now suffered the most ministerial resignations, outside government reshuffles, of any prime minister at the beginning of their tenure in almost 50 years — more even than Boris Johnson in his chaotic period in office.

“I deeply regret my decision to not seek additional specialist tax advice … I take full responsibility for this error,” she said in her letter to Starmer.

“Given the findings, and the impact on my family, I have therefore decided to resign,” said Rayner, who also stepped down as a minister and deputy leader of the Labour Party.

In a particularly emotional letter, Starmer said he believed she had made the right decision but understood it was one “which I know is very painful for you”.

“On a personal note, I am very sad to be losing you from the government … Even though you won’t be part of the government, you will remain a major figure in our party.”

The independent adviser on ministerial standards ruled Rayner had broken the code because she had failed to heed the warning within the legal advice – which she said she had relied on – to seek expert advice on her complicated financial situation.

“It is with deep regret that I must advise you that in these circumstances, I consider the Code to have been breached,” he said, referring to rules to make sure the conduct of politicians meet the standards of public service.

Reform celebrates

With Labour trailing Nigel Farage’s populist Reform UK in the polls, Starmer faces difficult state spending and tax choices as he seeks to repair his party’s image after accusations of hypocrisy by critics over accepting expensive items including clothing and concert tickets from donors.

On the first day of Reform’s party conference in the central English city of Birmingham, Farage brought forward his speech by three hours to address Rayner’s resignation.

Farage said the Labour government was in “deep crisis” and the next election may take place in 2027, implying that Labour, who hold a big majority, might call one early for fear its support was slipping.

“Despite all the promises that this would be a new, different type of politics, is as bad, if not worse, than the one that went before,” he told the audience to loud applause.

For Starmer, losing his deputy is particularly damaging, especially as Rayner – once a working-class teenage mother – had been able to mediate between Labour’s left and centrist wings to keep the party united, and had a wider appeal than Starmer.

“Any resignation is a blow, especially Ange (Rayner), but she clearly had to go,” said one Labour lawmaker, adding she would probably stay quiet for a while but could, at a later date, try to mount a challenge against Starmer.

Rayner had been forced to refer herself to the independent adviser on ministerial standards on Wednesday after admitting that she had made a mistake over the tax payment.

In an interview in which she appeared close to tears, she described setting up a trust for one of her sons, who has lifelong disabilities as a result of an injury.

It was to that trust that she sold her share of her family home in northern England to pay for an apartment in the southern English seaside resort of Hove, believing she would not have to pay the higher rate of tax charged when buying a second home.

After starting to take further legal advice last week, a day after the allegations first surfaced, she then said on Wednesday she had made a mistake and was taking steps to pay the additional tax.

Continuing its trend of blocking social media accounts, the Indian government has blocked the account of Austrian economist Gunther Fehlinger-Jahn for sharing a Khalistan map and calling for the dismantling of New Delhi.

NDTV reported that the account was blocked in response to a controversial message, stating: “I call to dismantle India into ExIndia. Narendra Modi is Russia’s man. We need friends of freedom for Khalistan Network.”

Under the umbrella of the Khalistan movement, the Sikh separatists are seeking an independent state for the religious minority, as they considered themselves under a security threat.

The map shared by Fehlinger-Jahn showed a separate region of India for Sikhs.

According to NDTV’s report: “India’s Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology flagged the viral post and directed X to withhold access to the account for Indian users. The account has since been disabled in India.”

In response, the economist shared another post, stating: “I call for ExIndia. India is now a hostile state to the Free World. We must boycott India now!”

According to Fehlinger-Jahn’s Linkedin handle, he severse as the president of the Austrian Committee for NATO Membership of Ukraine, Kosovo, Bosnia, and Austria.

He is also a part of the Board of the Action Group for Regional Economic Integration of Southern Balkans.

US President Donald Trump on Friday said India and Russia seem to have been “lost” to China after their leaders met with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week, highlighting his split from New Delhi and Moscow as Beijing pushes a new world order.

“Looks like we’ve lost India and Russia to deepest, darkest, China. May they have a long and prosperous future together!” Trump wrote in a social media post accompanying a photo of the three other world leaders together at Xi’s summit in China.

Asked about Trump’s post, the Indian foreign ministry spokesperson told reporters in New Delhi that he had no comment.

Representatives for Beijing and Moscow could not be immediately reached for comment on Trump’s post on his Truth Social platform.

Xi hosted more than 20 leaders of non-Western countries for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in the Chinese port city of Tianjin, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Putin and Modi were see holding hands at the summit as they walked toward Xi before all three men stood side by side.

Modi’s warming ties with China comes as Trump has chilled US-India ties amid trade tensions and other disputes. Trump earlier this week said he was “very disappointed” in Putin but not worried about growing Russia-China ties.