ANGELA Rayner has come under fire after suggesting the Tories would “steal £30 a week off disabled people” to help fund Trident – as she gave her backing to nuclear weapons.
Labour’s deputy leader is facing questions over her stance on nukes after insisting she remains personally opposed to them.
But Keir Starmer (below) has also said that his entire shadow Cabinet, including Rayner, is committed to Labour’s Trident “triple lock”, which includes commitments to build nuclear submarines and maintain the existing fleet.
Now the deputy Labour leader has been left red-faced after a tweet she posted after voting against renewing Trident resurfaced.
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In 2016, she posted: “Thanks for the tremendous support on my position over Trident, amazed we can find money for this but we steal £30 a week off disabled people.”
It is a common refrain among anti-nuclear campaigners that the vast sums of money taken up by maintaining Britain’s weapons of mass destruction would be better spent on social welfare programmes.
But it has come back to bite Rayner, who this week claimed not to have changed her mind since the 2016 vote.
Brendan O’Hara (above), the SNP candidate in Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber, said: “Labour politicians who once held principled stances on Trident have been corrupted by a whiff of power – only the SNP will oppose wasteful spending on weapons of mass destruction and put Scotland’s interests first.
“Angela Rayner and David Lammy both rightly attacked the UK government for renewing Trident – but are now preparing to hand over a blank cheque to Sir Keir Starmer to impose austerity on the public while prioritising nuclear missiles.”
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Chris McEleny, Alba’s general secretary and Inverclyde candidate, added: “Keir Starmer has made it clear that a vote for Labour is a vote to have the best-defended food banks in the world.
“Angela Rayner isn’t the first and she won’t be the last Labour politician to sell out their anti-Trident principles in exchange for a ministerial car.
“Scotland should leave them to it and if Ms Rayner is so desperate to house weapons of mass destruction she should make the case for the Manchester Canal to be widened and extended to Oldham in her constituency so the submarines can float there via the Mersey.”
Labour were approached for comment.
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