It seems to me that there is much more going on here than seems appropriate – if appropriate there would be no story at all! The MoS has yet another front page “scoop” where some neighbour of 10 years ago has been paid hansomely to spread malicious gossip. So what are they doing? With Menzies following Wragg in sordid sex scandals Rayner is a diversion. However it is much deeper than this. Ashcroft is facing a tax bill of £millions due to avoidance so this is not about tax avoidance or even electoral fraud.
The purpose (Part 1) is to discredit the whole of the Labour Party by getting Rayner the sack. Part 2 will be to ensure that any discrepancies between potential candidates for her job are amplified and Labour portrayed as being in disarray and therefore unelectable.
That the gutter/client press have been unsuccessful so far has shown just how desperate they are. The Mail has had Rayner on the front page at least 4 times and the Telegraph and Times have also featured it on the front cover, even the BBC has been complicit by allowing the issue prime air time (although it did show some restraint in ignoring the MoS claims in its news summary web page).
Yet the public seem uninterested in whether Angela was opaque about her living arrangements before she became an MP. I suspect that many people have tremendous sympathy for her and the campaign is misfiring. That a dozen detectives are wasting their time compounds the publics disquiet about this is a complete joke at the public’s expense.