Labour’s Deputy Leader Angela Rayner faced some harsh criticism after evading a question on BBC Breakfast. Her name was trending on X as people reshared the clip that shows her response to the repeated enquiry: ‘Do you support the triple lock on pensions?’.
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The shadow deputy prime minister refused to give a straight answer, giving rise to accusations that Labour won’t keep the state pensions triple lock if they take power at the next general election.
The BBC interview with Angela Rayner
When on BBC Breakfast with Sally Nugent, who receives a 6-figure-salary as presenter, Rayner was questioned about the triple lock, under which the state pension increases every April in line with either inflation, the average increase in wages, or 2.5% - whichever of these three measures is highest.
It was designed to ensure the state pension reflected the increase in the cost of living. During the interview, Rayner was asked if she supported the 8.5% state pension increase expected in April 2024 under the triple lock:
The Tories promised that they would keep the triple lock. They've got to keep to that, they're in government.
When it was pointed out to her that Labour also pledged to keep the triple lock in 2019, she appeared to hesitate before giving a small laugh and explaining that the country is in ‘a very different place’ now:
What Labour has said is we'll look at that in the run-up to a general election but we will not make unfunded spending commitments because Liz Truss did that and she crashed the economy.
'Do you support the triple lock on pensions?'
— BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) September 12, 2023
As new economic data indicates pensions could increase by 8.5% in 2024, Labour's Deputy Leader Angela Rayner is asked on #BBCBreakfast if she supports the automatic increasehttps://t.co/u4UENTPXEOpic.twitter.com/428GJXHFGo
Who is Angela Rayner?
Angela Rayner is the Labour MP for Ashton-under-Lyne, Droylsden and Failsworth
According to her website, in 2015 Angela Rayner became the first woman MP in the 180 years of her Ashton-under-Lyne constituency.She explains her motivation for getting into politics:
From the beginning of my working life I’ve always stood up for working people.
In 2020, she was elected as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party. Rayner is also Shadow First Secretary of State, Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Shadow Secretary of State for the Future of Work. Indeed, during the BBC interview she showed her loyalty to Keir Starmer's party as she claims that Labour will look after everyone:
When we're in government, when we run up to the general election, when we've seen the finances, we will make sure that people are better off under Labour.
Angela Rayner, a young mother
Aside from politics, Rayner is a mother-of-three. She had her first child, Ryan, at the young age of 16. Unable to continue her studies, she left school with no qualifications. Reflecting on it, the politician said having her son 'saved her life'. She said, as quoted by The Sun:
It actually saved me from where I could have been because I had a little person to look after – I wanted to prove that I could be a good mum and somebody was finally going to love me as much as I deserved to be loved, and that’s what pregnancy was for me.
After she had Ryan, Rayner went back to studying and starting to learn British sign language and social care in college as a part-time student. She then started working in the local council as a care worker.
In 2010, Angela Rayner got married to Mark Rayner and the couple had two more children—Charlie and Jimmy. The two, however, separated in 2020.
Angela Rayner was a young mother, but that also led to her to being a young grandmother. Her firstborn, Ryan, had his own child, a daughter, in 2017 which made her a grandmother at only 37. In fact, it earned her quite another unique nickname, 'Grangela'. She announced on X, at the time:
Very little is known about her children and granddaughter as they have kept very low profiles.
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Sources used:
angelarayner.co.uk: Angela Rayner MP
Express: Angela Rayner refuses to commit to Labour keeping pensions triple lock in BBC grilling
BBC: State pension and triple lock: What is it worth and when do you get it?
Sky News: Who is Angela Rayner? The story behind the country's possible next deputy PM
The Guardian: Labour's Angela Rayner becomes a grandmother at 37
The Sun: Who is Angela Rayner’s husband Mark and do they have children?
