ANGELA Rayner is hiding behind a mystery court order preventing her from providing a full account of her controversial property and tax affairs.
The Deputy Prime Minister, said to have escaped a £40,000 stamp duty bill when buying a flat, has cited the ongoing legal proceedings.
Dan Charity – Commissioned by the SunAngela Rayner is hiding behind a mystery court order preventing her from providing a full account of her controversial property and tax affairs[/caption]
AlamyRayner classified her home in her constituency in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancs, as her main residence in her most recent expenses declaration[/caption]
Her boss, Sir Keir Starmer, yesterday also side-stepped whether she had questions to answer, insisting she was “incredible” in her role.
It follows more than a week of scrutiny surrounding Ms Rayner’s three homes.
No10 said: “There is a court order which restricts her from providing further information, which she’s urgently working on rectifying in the interests of public transparency.”
The Tories are demanding she is investigated by independent ethics adviser Sir Laurie Magnus over her property in Hove, East Sussex.
Ms Rayner, also the Housing Secretary, is understood to have saved £40,000 in stamp duty after removing her name from the deeds of a family property in her constituency of Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester.
It was also reported that remains her primary residence, which saves £2,000 in council tax on her central London grace-and-favour pad.
She also split the ownership of her £650,000 constituency home, placing it in a trust administered by law firm Shoosmiths.
Pals of Labour’s No2 reject claims that the move was related to inheritance tax.
However, Tory Party chair Kevin Hollinrake said Ms Rayner should “come clean on the litany of accusations of tax avoidance — be it stamp duty, council tax or inheritance tax”.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch called for clarity, adding: “The reason why people are asking, as they have been in my constituency, is that they’re worried about hypocrisy.
“We are facing property taxes coming in with the Budget, so people start suspecting or worrying that she’s making decisions because she knows what’s coming up.”
Sir Keir told the BBC: “Angela came from a very humble background, battled all sorts of challenges along the way, and there she is proudly – and I’m proud of her – as our Deputy Prime Minister.”
Ray CollinsMs Rayner moved into Grade 1 listed Admiralty House in December last year[/caption]
GettyAng’s latest purchase is a luxury three-bedroom flat near Brighton[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
