Rayner faces investigation over Lord Alli New York apartment stay

Conservatives write to parliamentary standards commissioner, claiming Commons code of conduct may have been breached

Angela Rayner faces an investigation by the parliamentary standards commissioner over the use of a $2.5million New York apartment lent by Lord Alli, the Labour peer.
The Telegraph can reveal that the Conservatives have written to Daniel Greenberg, the parliamentary commissioner for standards, seeking an investigation.
The Tory letter claims that Ms Rayner’s “failure to properly register” the New York flat donation means the House of Commons code of conduct may have been breached.
It comes after it emerged that Sam Tarry, a former Labour MP, joined Ms Rayner for parts of her stay at the flat from Dec 29 to Jan 2 but was not named in the parliamentary declaration. 
During an interview on BBC One’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Ms Rayner denied any wrongdoing, saying: “I think I followed the rules.
Addressing the backlash, she added: “I get that people are frustrated, in particular the circumstances that we’re in, but donations for gifts and hospitality and monetary donations have been a feature of our politics for a very long time.
“People can look it up and see what people have had donations for, and the transparency is really important.”
Ms Rayner did declare to the parliamentary authorities the donation from Lord Alli that saw her use his apartment but did not detail publicly that Mr Tarry, then the Ilford South MP, had also stayed there.
According to the rules, MPs must declare foreign trips which they, or anyone connected to them, undertake if a donor pays for “part or all” of it as a result of “parliamentary or political activities”.
Ms Rayner argues that the trip was a personal holiday and denies any rule breach. Lord Alli is not accused of any wrongdoing.
Questions about the scale of donations from Lord Alli, a former TV mogul said to be worth £200 million, overshadowed day one of Labour’s conference in Liverpool.
The peer has decided to attend the conference despite a week of headlines about his hundreds of thousands of pounds of donations to the party. 
Sue Gray, the Downing Street chief of staff also in the headlines for her salary exceeding that paid to Sir Keir Starmer, has skipped the gathering. 
Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary, on Sunday admitted receiving £14,000 from Lord Alli to help pay for events to mark her 40th birthday, but argued it was a work event.
Speaking on Sky News, she admitted some of the cash was used to pay for a 40th birthday event held in December at the Hoare Memorial Hall, a venue with views of Westminster Abbey.
Ms Phillipson said: “It was used to fund two events, all of which was declared properly and thoroughly – that’s why that information’s in the public domain. The first event was ahead of my birthday, so I was turning 40.
“I thought it was a good opportunity to get people together in a professional context – so it was journalists, trade unionists, education people, MPs and shadow Cabinet. The second event was an event that I held also, again, for Lobby journalists, for people in the education world, as part of a reception. It was in a work context.”
Ms Phillipson also defended accepting free Taylor Swift tickets, telling ITV: “Look, I’ll be honest – it was a hard one to turn down. I appreciate there was a big demand for the tickets, it was a privilege to be there.”
On the opening day of the Labour conference, Ms Rayner attempted to deflect attention away from Labour’s donations row by telling delegates at the party’s conference to remind voters of partygate.
She said: “Don’t forget what they did: partygate, Covid contracts, the lies, division, scapegoating, and the unfunded tax cuts for the richest that crashed our economy. Don’t forget any of it. The Tories failed Britain and they tried to cover it up.”
David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, said: “Conference, for 14 long years, the Conservative Party misused the British state, handing out crony contracts to their mates, crashing the economy with their delusional ideology.”
There were no references to the donations row, and Andrew Bowie, the Tory shadow veterans minister, said: “Labour’s hypocrisy is off the scale. They spent years taking the moral high ground and now they’re excusing their freeloading as the done thing.”
On Sunday night, it was also reported that Ms Rayner had come by a “chief photographer” on a taxpayer-funded salary of up to £66,000.
According to the Mail, Simon Walker has been appointed Chief Photographer to the Deputy PM and Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
A department spokesman said: “This is a Civil Service role and will be part of MHCLG’s communications team.”