The minister for homelessness in the UK has resigned over allegations that she evicted tenants from her own home and raised rents by hundreds of pounds.
Rushanara Ali, a junior minister in the Ministry of Housing, stated in her resignation letter to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday that she had adhered to all the laws “at all times” when acting as a landlord.
As the property was being sold, Ali, the member of parliament for Bethnal Green and Stepney, evicted four tenants from her four-bedroom home in east London last year, according to British outlet The i Paper on Wednesday.
After no buyer was found, the property, which had a monthly rent of 3,300 British pounds (roughly $4,433), was re-listed for rent and then rented out for 4, 000 British pounds (5, 374), according to the report.
In her resignation letter, Ali, who has previously criticized tenants for being subject to “unreasonable rent increases,” stated that she had taken her “responsibilities and duties seriously, and the circumstances demonstrate this.”
“It is obvious, however, that continuing to work in my position will detract from the government’s ambitious goals. She stated that she has therefore decided to step down from her ministerial position.
She continued, “proud to have contributed to the change this government has delivered in the last year.”
Working with the Deputy Prime Minister, she stated that we received record amounts of funding for the prevention of homelessness and rough sleeping and that we also secured nearly a billion pounds of funding.
One of the biggest causes of homelessness in Britain is the end of rental contracts, and Starmer’s government is working on a Renters’ Rights Bill to stop landlords from listing a property for higher rent within six months of their eviction.
Ali is the fourth Labour minister to resign in response to the resignations of Andrew Gwynne, the junior health minister, and Louise Haigh, the transport minister, Louise Haigh, and Tulip Siddiq, the anti-corruption minister, for different reasons.
The resignations, which come less than a year after Labour won a resounding victory in the election, give Starmer’s government an embarrassing blow. His party is now in the minority of Nigel Farage’s right-wing Reform UK party in polls.
If an election were held now, the ruling Labour Party would take 271 of the 650 seats in the House of Commons, according to a June survey conducted by YouGov.
Source: Aljazeera
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