Swinney accuses Reeves of ‘extraordinary carelessness’ in home letting row

Scotland’s First Minister has accused the Chancellor of “extraordinary carelessness” after she admitted to failing to get the proper licence to let out her home.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer declined to investigate the issue on Thursday, after consulting with his independent ethics adviser.

Rachel Reeves had admitted she failed to obtain the selective rental licence required to let out her London home after moving to Downing Street, which she said was an “inadvertent error”.

The Conservatives have called for a probe, with the party’s leader Kemi Badenoch urging the Chancellor to be “on top of her paperwork”.

Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney said the Prime Minister was right to listen to his independent adviser, Sir Laurie Magnus, but hit out at the Chancellor’s error, comparing issues facing the Labour administration – including the sacking of Angela Rayner – to that of their predecessors in power.

“I think what this demonstrates is an extraordinary carelessness by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in not recognising her responsibilities,” he told the PA news agency.

“It follows a pattern, we saw with Angela Rayner not following these issues as well.

“What makes it even worse is that the Labour Government came into office promising to uphold the highest standards in public office and here we are with multiple examples of that not being the case.

“I think it tells us that we’ve now got another great similarity between the Labour Government and the previous Conservative government, that they don’t uphold the high standards of public office.”

Discussing a potential probe into the issue, Mr Swinney said: “I’ve seen reports this morning that the Prime Minister has sought the view of his independent ethics adviser on this question and his adviser has indicated that he does not believe there should be a substantive investigation of this issue.

“I think, if you appoint independent advisers, that you should accept the conclusions that they come to.”

The UK Government has been contacted for comment.