London, 31 October (H.S.): Chancellor Rachel Reeves found herself at the center of a political storm on Friday over the failure to obtain a mandatory license for her rented London home. While her letting agent has since issued an apology for the oversight, the revelation has armed the opposition with fresh ammunition and placed the Chancellor's judgment under renewed scrutiny.

The controversy emerged when it was discovered that Reeves's four-bedroom South London property, rented out since she moved into 11 Downing Street in July 2024, lacked the required selective rental license from Southwark Council. Gareth Martin, owner of the agency Harvey & Wheeler, explained that his company had offered to secure the license but failed to do so after the employee handling the case abruptly resigned.

We deeply regret the issue caused to our clients, he said.Reeves has apologized for the inadvertent mistake and stated that she accepts full responsibility.

After initially being unaware of the requirement, she later found correspondence confirming the agency had agreed to manage the application on her behalf.Downing Street has staunchly defended the Chancellor, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer expressing his full confidence in her.

This position was bolstered by the Prime Minister's ethics adviser, Sir Laurie Magnus, who reviewed the matter and concluded it was an unfortunate but inadvertent error, seeing no need for any further action.However, the Conservative party has strongly criticized the government's response.

Party leader Kemi Badenoch called on the Prime Minister to grow a backbone and start a proper investigation, accusing the Labour party of hypocrisy. Keir Starmer said law makers shouldn't be lawbreakers, she stated, demanding they be held to their own standards.

The incident comes at a politically difficult time for the Chancellor, who is preparing for a major Budget at the end of the month.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar