{"id":106428,"date":"2026-08-19T06:23:34","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T06:23:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/106428\/"},"modified":"2026-08-19T06:23:34","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T06:23:34","slug":"angela-rayner-torn-apart-over-shocking-move-to-allow-invasion-of-green-spaces-by-travellers-unbelievable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/106428\/","title":{"rendered":"Angela Rayner torn apart over ‘shocking’ move to allow ‘invasion of green spaces’ by travellers: ‘Unbelievable!’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Angela Rayner has been accused of “prolonging a two-tier planning system” over plans to remove powers from local councils to block illegal encampments.<\/p>\n

Speaking to GB News, Shadow Business Secretary Andrew Griffith said the move by the Housing Secretary is “shocking”, warning of an “invasion of our green spaces”.<\/p>\n

Ms Rayner unveiled her plans on Monday to soften planning rules and remove powers from local councils across England.<\/p>\n

The changes would make it harder for both residents and councils to oppose applications for retrospective permission for illegal camps, such as traveller sites.<\/p>\n

The new guidance removes requirements for councils to consider “potential environmental damage” and “provide a settled base that limits the need for long-distance travelling” when assessing applications.<\/p>\n

Officials have warned that the new policy may also mean that “locations not well-related to existing settlements may be appropriate”.<\/p>\n

Reacting to the move, Mr Griffith told GB News that it is both “shocking” and “unbelievable”.<\/p>\n

He said: “It’s unbelievable that Angela Rayner wants to prolong a two-tier planning system.<\/p>\n

\"Andrew<\/p>\n

Andrew Griffith has torn into Angela Rayner after softening powers on permission for illegal camps<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

GB NEWS \/ PA<\/p>\n

“There’s one set of planning rules for you and I, if you want to put on a small attic extension or change the look of your house, but other communities are allowed to invade green spaces, concrete over land illegally over the course of a weekend and flout planning regulations.”<\/p>\n

The Tory MP stressed that the situation surrounding illegal sites across the UK is “already bad”, and this move by Ms Rayner is “seeking to make things worse”.<\/p>\n

He said: “The situation is already bad, and it’s absolutely shocking that Angela Rayner is seeking to make that worse. Why would she want to do that?<\/p>\n

“Why would she want to upset law-abiding communities, make councils look like fools because they can’t control what’s going on in their own local democracy?”<\/p>\n

\"\\u200bAngela<\/p>\n

Housing Secretary Angela Rayner unveiled the changes on Monday<\/p>\n

| PA<\/p>\n

Criticising the Housing Secretary further, Mr Griffith declared that the move demonstrates that she “thinks she knows best” rather than local authorities.<\/p>\n

He argued: “It’s the opposite of devolution, isn’t it?<\/p>\n

“It’s about Angela Rayner thinking she knows best rather than local communities and local democratic authorities.”<\/p>\n

Turning to the country’s welfare system, Mr Griffith was questioned on Reform UK’s plan to save \u00a351billion by cutting benefits for those who “can and should be working”.<\/p>\n

\"Andrew<\/p>\n

Mr Griffith told GB News that Angela Rayner ‘thinks she knows best’ rather than local authorities<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

GB NEWS<\/p>\n

Mr Griffith told GB News: “Well, I’m delighted that there’s a growing consensus on this. It’s something that Conservatives have been raising for a very long period of time. <\/p>\n

“As an adherent of sound public finances, I am appalled by the way in which the welfare bill has burgeoned. So if that consensus makes it more likely that we get a Conservative-led government that will implement those and finally tackle this scourge on the public finances and get people back into work, then that is all very welcome, and I think your viewers will welcome that as well.”<\/p>\n

In a statement, a Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government spokesman said: “The Government is cracking down on illegal traveller sites and it is completely misleading to suggest otherwise. <\/p>\n

“Our new planning rules explicitly tackle any potential environmental damage and transport impacts, and make it harder for people to get retrospective permission for development that were built without approval.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Angela Rayner has been accused of “prolonging a two-tier planning system” over plans to remove powers from local…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":106429,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[12433,18,14,1634,5,20,6,1633],"class_list":["post-106428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-uk","tag-britains-newsroom","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-shows","tag-uk","tag-uk-politics","tag-united-kingdom","tag-video-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/117120742342837096","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106428"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106428\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}