MOMENT ANGELA RAYNER FURIOUSLY DODGES DEMAND TO RELEASE TAX ADVICE ON THE SALE OF HER EX-COUNCIL HOUSE IN FIERY CLASH WITH BBC'S NICK ROBINSON AS LABOUR DEPUTY ENDURES FURTHER QUESTIONS ABOUT HOUSING ROW ON HER 44TH BIRTHDAY

Angela Rayner today refused to commit to publishing tax advice on the sale of her ex-council house as she faced fresh questions over her past living arrangements in a BBC radio clash.

The Labour deputy leader has seen weeks of scrutiny over her housing situation in the 2010s following her marriage to Mark Rayner.

There have been claims she could have owed as much as £3,500 in capital gains tax on the sale of the property in Stockport, Greater Manchester.

It is also alleged she may have made a false declaration about where she was living on the electoral register, amid confusion about what was her principal residency.

Police are currently 'reassessing' their initial decision not to investigate a formal complaint against Ms Rayner, who this morning reiterated she had 'done absolutely nothing wrong' and taken legal advice that no rules were broken.

But the Labour shadow minister clashed with the BBC's Nick Robinson about whether she should publish that advice.

The Radio 4 Today presenter apologised for returning to the row on Ms Rayner's 44th birthday, but asked: 'Wouldn't the easy way of dealing with all the questions... to simply publish the advice?'

Ms Rayner replied: 'I am confident I have done absolutely nothing wrong, I have been very clear on my advice that I've received.'

Asked why she would not publish that advice, Ms Rayner added: 'Because that's my personal tax advice. But I'm happy to comply with the necessary authorities that want to see that.'

The Labour deputy said she would hand over information to police and HMRC, but would not 'put out all of my personal details for the last 15 years about my family'.

Greater Manchester Police have said they are reviewing their decision not to investigate allegations Ms Rayner gave false information on official documents.

It follows pressure from Conservative Party deputy chairman James Daly, who has complained officers appeared not to have contacted witnesses or looked at the electoral roll, deeds and other relevant documents.

Ms Rayner said if Mr Daly, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt published their tax details for the last 15 years, she would do the same.

'If you show me yours, then I'll show you mine,' she added.

Ms Rayner has rejected suggestions in a book by former Tory deputy chairman Lord Ashcroft, which was serialised in the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, that she failed to properly declare her main home.

The unauthorised biography alleges that the MP for Ashton-under-Lyne bought her former council house, in Vicarage Road in Stockport, Greater Manchester, with a 25 per cent discount in 2007 under the right-to-buy scheme.

The former carer is said to have made a £48,500 profit when selling the house eight years later.

Government guidance says that a tenant can apply to buy their council home through the right-to-buy scheme if it is their 'only or main home'.

Mr Rayner, her then-husband, was listed at another address in Lowndes Lane, about a mile away, which had also been bought under the right-to-buy scheme.

In the same year as her wedding, Ms Rayner is said to have re-registered the births of her two youngest children, giving her address as where her husband resided.

Ms Rayner has insisted that Vicarage Road was her 'principal property' despite her then-husband living elsewhere at the time.

But neighbours have reportedly disputed her claim that she lived apart from Mr Rayner.

Tax experts have estimated that, while Ms Rayner may not have owed anything in capital gains tax following the sale depending on her residency situation, there are circumstances in which she could have owed as much as £3,500 to the taxman.

A Greater Manchester Police spokesperson said yesterday: 'We have received a complaint regarding our decision not to investigate an allegation and are in the process of reassessing this decision.

'The complainant will be updated with the outcome of the reassessment in due course.'

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, who today launched his party's local elections campaign alongside Ms Rayner in the West Midlands, insisted his deputy has his 'full support' and 'full confidence'.

He said: 'Angela has answered I don't know how many questions about this. She has not broken any rules, she has in fact taken legal and tax advice which has satisfied her, and us, and me about the position.'

Sir Keir added: 'But should she publish legal tax advice? No she shouldn't.

'Where does this end? Are you going to be calling for Tory ministers to publish their legal and tax advice going back over the last 15 years? That is where this ends.'

Fellow Labour frontbencher Lisa Nandy said the party would 'respect the process' as she backed Ms Rayner.

'The police originally closed the investigation. I understand they've reopened it because a Conservative MP has asked them to do so,' she told Times Radio.

'And you know, as we always have when these sorts of allegations are made, we comply with the processes.'

Ms Nandy added that Ms Rayner has 'been very clear that she has taken legal advice, she's taken tax advice and that no rules have been broken'.

'She called the allegations a smear,' Ms Nandy continud.

Ms Rayner has previously rejected Tory accusations of 'staggering hypocrisy' by profiting on the sale of a former council house.

Labour have proposed to 'review' Margaret Thatcher's right-to-buy scheme, if they enter government, from which Ms Rayner benefited by buying the house at a discount.

Ms Rayner stated that Labour's policy was to 'review the unfair additional market discounts of up to 60 per cent' on council home purchases following Tory changes to the policy in 2012.

She stressed this was introduced 'long after' she was able to exercise the right to buy herself at a 25 per cent discount under the old system.

Ms Rayner strongly pushed back at allegations she wants to 'pull up the ladder' to make it harder for other social housing tenants to benefit in the same way she did.

2024-03-28T11:26:09Z dg43tfdfdgfd