UNDER-FIRE Angela Rayner consulted three people ‘who might not have been tax experts’ before using disabled son’s NHS compensation to buy £800,000 seaside flat.
The embattled Deputy Prime Minister’s political career is hanging by a thread after she admitted underpaying stamp duty to the taxman.
Angela Rayner is now facing a probe from the independent ethics adviserSky News
ReutersThe deputy PM saved £40,000 in stamp duty when buying a flat in Hove[/caption]
AFPAn independent ethics adviser could deliver his report to Sir Keir Starmer within just days about Ms Rayner’s actions[/caption]
Her case is now in the hands of the independent ethics adviser who could deliver his report to Sir Keir Starmer within days.
But a Cabinet Minister has today declined to say whether Ms Rayner will be in position by Christmas.
It’s understood that Rayner spoke to one individual experienced in conveyancing and two experts in the legal field on trusts before making the purchase.
But it remains unclear whether the three professionals were experts when it comes to the complex area of tax law, the BBC reported.
The deputy Labour leader has blamed the mistake – where she saved £40,000 in stamp duty – on the initial legal advice.
She has denied trying to avoid paying the full amount with the original advice not properly taking account of the full picture.
The senior Labour figure is also facing questions amid reports that £160,000 from a trust set up to look after her disabled son was used to but the seaside bolthole in Hove, Sussex.
She sold a 25 per cent stake in her constituency home to the trust for £162,500, the Telegraph reported.
Rayner has revealed that her son Charlie was born prematurely and received a payout in 2020 following an 11-year legal battle after her son was born in 2008.
It also emerged that the legal advice she sought to check whether she paid the right amount of stamp duty came back on Monday.
It raises questions about who in government was aware of concerns about her tax affairs and what public statements were made.
Downing Street on Monday said that she was unable to say anything publicly because of a court order.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson told Times Radio: “What did happen was that Angela sought legal advice that came back on Monday.
“It was at that point that she applied to the court to have the order lifted that had prevented her from talking about some of these matters in detail in public before that because of the circumstances of her family.
“Once that order was lifted by the court, she then gave a full statement, gave a full interview and set out the position as she understood it.”
Ms Phillipson also declined to say whether Angela Rayner would still be in post at Christmas.
The Education Secretary told LBC Radio she would not “speculate on or pre-judge” the outcome of an investigation.
She said: “We’ve got a process that’s under way with the independent adviser.
“I’m not going to get into hypotheticals or speculate. I’m sorry to disappoint you. I’m just not going to do it. That process will run its course.”
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