Angela Rayner appears to be having her cake and eating it at the moment. Having accepted the trio of titles bestowed on her by her leader, she has openly criticised him anyway. Speaking to Laura Kuenssberg last night she repeated the view that has been shared mostly from the Corbyn left that voters didn't know what Keir Starmer stood for. The pair had a 'robust, frank relationship' she added, but refused to confirm she'd been sacked from her previous roles, or whether Starmer had 'tried to sack her' as Kuenssberg framed it. The decision, Rayner claimed, was made by 'both of us'. So, that's a no then...
The rumour mill is undoubtedly hard at work in Westminster at the moment and yesterday one of Keir Starmer's chief aides resigned over allegations that she had stoked the conflict between the leader and his deputy. The Guardian claims that a 'veteran MP' had lodged a formal complaint about the conduct of Carolyn Harris, relating to comments she reportedly made about the 'private lives of shadow cabinet ministers'. The official line is that Harris, who is the MP for Swansea East, will be stepping back to concentrate on her role as deputy leader of Welsh Labour.
Following the Queen's Speech, Boris Johnson made light of the turmoil as he likened Rayner to a lioness: "The more titles he feeds her, the hungrier - I fear - she is likely to become". Watch the clip below.
There is no PMQs on Wednesday, the next session is due a week today.
