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By JAMIE BULLEN, LIVE COVERAGE EDITOR and SHANNON MCGUIGAN, NEWS REPORTER
Updated:
Angela Rayner has admitted not paying enough tax on her second home in a dramatic move leaving her political future in limbo.
The Deputy Prime Minister, who is also the Housing Secretary, claimed she received inaccurate tax advice amid intense scrutiny over her purchase of a flat in Hove.
Ms Rayner told Sky News she she has referred herself to the independent adviser on ministerial standards and had spoken to her family about quitting.
Her admission comes following reports she saved £40,000 in stamp duty on the flat because she removed her name from the deeds of a family property in her Ashton-under-Lyne constituency, meaning the Hove property is the only property she owns.
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WATCH: Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson defends Rayner: 'She has followed all the rules'
MP Bridget Phillipson defended the Deputy Prime Minister amid calls for a tax probe, saying she 'followed all the rules and requirements asked of her'.
Liberal Democrats leader Ed Davey defends Rayner: 'The opposition jump up and down and call for resignations'
Liberal Democrats leader Ed Davey said he thinks Ms Rayner's decision surrounding her properties were guided by the interests of her disabled child.
While quipping the oppostion 'jump up and down and call for resignations', he defended the deputy PM drawing on his experience with his own son.
'I know the thing my wife and I worry most about is our son's care after we have gone,' he said.
"I completely understand and trust that the deputy prime minister was thinking about the same thing here," he says.
Davey, who has been an advocate for disabled people as well as their carers, continued: 'Perhaps now is a good time to talk about how we look after disabled people and how we can build a more caring country.'
WATCH: Keir Starmer says he's 'very proud' to sit alongside Rayner amid flat row
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer tells Parliament he 'is very proud' to sit alongside Rayner amid watchdog probe after she admitted she should have paid more tax.
By Greg Heffer, Political Correspondent
Angela Rayner's habit of attracting scandal could harm her chances of becoming prime minister, her supporters have admitted.
The Deputy Prime Minister is among the bookies' favourites to succeed Sir Keir Starmer as Labour's approval ratings continue to slump under his leadership.
But Ms Rayner, who is also the Housing Secretary, is currently facing fresh questions over her property arrangements.
The Tories have called for a probe into her tax affairs following reports she escaped paying £40,000 in stamp duty on her new seaside flat in Hove, East Sussex.
Allies of Ms Rayner told The Times that her desire for privacy meant questions over her living arrangements had lingered for longer than necessary.
One MP said: 'The problem for Angie is the right keep attacking her, but would that become a distraction if she was leader? I don't know.'
Another Labour figure, who is not a supporter of the Deputy PM, said the current row shows 'just how open to being brought down by scandal she is, just as people are thinking about alternate PMs'.
But others suggested Ms Rayner would be 'strengthened' by the criticism and attacks by the Tories could be a 'badge of honour' for her.
READ MORE:
by Quentin Letts
What a difference a comeuppance makes. Angela Rayner, Westminster’s most careless taxpayer, entered the Commons at one minute before midday.
PMQs was imminent. A full House was hushed, stunned.
MPs had only just heard that the deputy PM had admitted to some £40k worth of – how can we put this? – tax lapses.
Read the full sketch by Quentin Letts here:
ANALYSIS: Rayner's departure will be a mixed blessing for PM
by David Wilcock, Deputy Political Editor
Angela Rayner now faces a nervous wait to find out whether she will have to resign from the government over her astonishing tax admission.
Should she be forced to go it will be a mixed blessing for Sir Keir Starmer.
The political damage will be huge. Having achieved power last year by promising a clean break from the scandal-plagued latter years of Tory government it would suggest to voters that they are no better.
It comes at a time when Labour is languishing as much as 10 points behind Reform in the polls.
But it will also cause problems within the Labour Party. Rayner is the standard bearer of the soft left wing of the party and has helped provide cover for some of Sir Keir’s less palatable schemes - with varying success.
If she was to go that wing would have little representation at the top table and could become even more bolshie over issues like welfare reform.
The flip side is that it would almost certainly mean the end of Ms Rayner’s chances of becoming prime minister in his place. She has played this down, but before the scandal her assured performance as housing secretary had been noticed.
So it would mean one less potential challenger to Sir Keir, though that would be cold comfort if it helps return the party to opposition at the next election.
by Greg Heffer
Sir Keir Starmer was today facing growing calls to sack 'hypocrite' Angela Rayner after she admitted not paying enough stamp duty on her new seaside flat.
The Deputy Prime Minister, dubbed 'Three Pads' Rayner in a row over her trio of homes, said she 'deeply regrets' the error made when purchasing her £800,000 apartment in Hove, East Sussex.
In a tearful TV interview, a 'devastated' Ms Rayner revealed she has referred herself to an ethics watchdog to investigate whether she had broken ministerial rules.
But pressure was growing on Sir Keir to immediately remove Ms Rayner from his Government, in which she also serves as Housing Secretary, rather than wait for the results of the Whitehall probe into her tax blunder.
Read our top story here:
Lib Dems say Rayner's position may be 'untenable'
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said Angela Rayner's position may well prove 'untenable' but that he 'completely understands' her actions as a mother of a disabled child.
Sir Ed said he believed the Deputy Prime Minister was guided by her disabled child’s interests:
I understand it is normally the role of opposition leaders to jump up and down and call for resignations – as we've seen plenty of from the Conservatives already. Obviously if the ethics adviser says Angela Rayner has broken the rules, her position may well become untenable.
But as a parent of a disabled child, I know the thing my wife and I worry most about is our son's care after we have gone, so I can completely understand and trust that the Deputy PM was thinking about the same thing here. Perhaps now is a good time to talk about how we look after disabled people and how we can build a more caring country.
Timeline: Angela Rayner sets out events leading up to today's tearful mea culpa
Following her emotional TV interview in which Angela Rayner admitted not paying enough stamp duty on her £800,000 seaside property in Hove, the Deputy Prime Minister also released a lengthy statement.
It contains the events leading up to today's dramatic admission which leaves her fighting for her political future.
Dissecting her words into important dates, let's take a look at how we got where we are today:
Rayner explains a trust was set up for her son as a premature baby following a 'deeply personal and distressing incident' which has left him with life-long disabilities.
Rayner said interest in her family home in Ashton-under-Lyne was transferred to the trust. Following her divorce in the same year, Ms Rayner said she and her ex-husband agreed to a 'nesting arrangement' where their children remained in the family home while the parents lived there at alternate times. She says this home remains her family home.
January 2025
Rayner said she sold her remaining interest in the Ashton property to her son's trust, thereby allowing him the 'security of knowing the home is his'. She maintains the Ashton property remains her family home.
Rayner said she bought the Hove property with the proceeds from her stake in the Ashton property. She said she was told by her lawyers she was liable for the 'standard rate' of stamp duty but after seeking further advice discovered she was subject to 'additional liabilities' because of what she described as 'complex deeming provisions' related to her son's trust.
Shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride said Angela Rayner spent the summer celebrating her growing 'property empire' as he opened the Conservatives’ Opposition Day debate in Parliament
Sir Mel said:
I’m absolutely certain that the Deputy Prime Minister had a good recess. We saw many photographs of her down at the seaside, just off the coast in a rubber dinghy, rather like many of the other photographs over the summer given the reckless policies this Government has towards illegal migration.
She was probably celebrating the acquisition of another property for her property empire, but perhaps also slightly tinged with that nagging doubt as to whether she had indeed paid enough stamp duty. Well, we will get to the bottom of that in due course.
Tax expert delivers his verdict on the 'unusual' case of Angela Rayner
Tax expert Dan Neidle has offered his thoughts on the case of Angela Rayner.
In a post on his X account, Mr Neidle said it was 'very unusual' for someone to pay the incorrect amount of stamp duty when receiving tax advice.
He said there were three possibilities owing to her mix-up. Namely, Ms Rayner may have got the law wrong, she didn't take the right advice or she didn't disclose all the facts to her legal team.
He said if she took the wrong advice then she'll have to pay the stamp duty, plus interest.
But if she didn't take appropriate advice, she could face what he described as possible 'carelessness' penalties.
Badenoch presses Starmer to reveal what he knew on Rayner's tax affairs
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch is pressing Sir Keir Starmer to explain when he found out about Angela Rayner's tax affairs and exactly what he knew.
Speaking to the BBC, Ms Badenoch said:
It is important that the public can see that the government - who are setting tax policy, making decisions about all our lives - are following the rules that they set.
After asking the Prime Minister why Ms Rayner was still on the frontbench, Ms Badenoch reiterated the Deputy Prime Minister's position is 'untenable'.
She added:
If you are the deputy PM helping to set tax policy, if you are the housing minister deciding where people are going to live, how much that is going to cost, you need to get your own affairs in order.
Downing Street tight-lipped on whether Rayner should resign if she breached ethics
Downing Street has said it will not 'get ahead' of the independent ethics adviser’s investigation into Angela Rayner’s tax affairs when asked whether she would be expected to resign if found to have breached ministerial standards.
Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesman said:
As you’d expect, we’re not going to get ahead of the process. As she’s set out in her statement today, she’s referred herself to the independent adviser. She will provide him with her fullest co-operation and access to all the information he requires. It is now up to the independent adviser to conduct that process.
The independent adviser will advise the Prime Minister on next steps. He will provide information to the Prime Minister as part of that process. But I’m not going to get ahead of that.
The official said it was up to the independent adviser when asked how long the probe might take.
Starmer says Rayner should 'pay what is due' on stamp duty
Sir Keir Starmer believes Angela Rayner should 'pay what is due' if tax authorities find she owes additional stamp duty on her Hove flat.
The Prime Minister's spokesman told reporters:
He thinks she should pay what is due, which is obviously what she has said.
Evading questions on whether Ms Rayner should pay a fine, the spokesman said:
She will work with lawyers and HMRC, she says in her statement, to resolve the issue and pay what is due.
Rayner faces hypocrisy claims on top of tax error
Angela Rayner has been accused of hypocrisy over the stamp duty row as she has repeatedly hit out at 'tax dodgers' during her years as an MP in the House of Commons.
This included calling for Nadhim Zahawi to be sacked as Tory chairman in 2023 following the revelation that his tax affairs were under investigation by HMRC.
Here's the views of the Mail on Sunday's political commentator Dan Hodges:
Reform call on Rayner to show 'decency' and step down
Reform's deputy leader Richard Tice has also called on Ms Rayner to resign, describing her position as 'completely indefensible'.
Speaking to Sky News, Tice said:
If anyone from any other party had been in that situation and tried to dodge paying the correct amount of tax, no-one would have screamed and hollered louder than the Deputy Prime Minister. Morally, her situation was always completely indefensible.
It’s right that she pays the correct amount of tax, I would expect that a penalty may well be imposed. But if she had any integrity, any moral decency given her position as Deputy Prime Minister, she would offer her resignation to the Prime Minister.
Starmer will have the final decision on Rayner's future
by Harriet Line, Daily Mail's Deputy Political Editor
Angela Rayner has referred herself to the PM's ministerial adviser, Laurie Magnus, over her property dealings.
When they are appointed ministers complete a declaration confirming that their tax affairs are up to date.
The ministerial code states that those who are allocated an official residence must ensure that 'all personal tax liabilities' are 'properly discharged'.
'Where a minister is allocated an official residence, they must ensure that all personal tax liabilities, including any council tax, are properly discharged and that they personally pay such liabilities,' the text says.
Ms Rayner said today that she 'alerted and referred' herself to the independent adviser 'as soon as' she learned she had been liable to pay additional stamp duty on the Hove property.
If an investigation is carried out - and she is found to have breached the standards expected of ministers - Sir Laurie will advise the Prime Minister on what sanction should be considered.
But a decision on whether a minister remains in office is for the Prime Minister, the code states.
He is the 'ultimate judge of the standards of behaviour expected of a minister and the appropriate consequences of a breach of those standards'.
Ms Rayner could be sacked from her Cabinet roles, but she would remain deputy leader of the Labour Party as the position is elected.
DAN HODGES: Angela Rayner must resign - now we know the truth... she has to go
by Dan Hodges
Angela Rayner has to resign.
Set aside the obvious and understandable emotion. Ignore the desire – equally understandable – to protect her family.
She has broken the rules. She has, by her own admission, failed to pay the appropriate amount of tax. So now she has to go.
Not least because of the hypocrisy and lies. Yes, Rayner may have been prevented from speaking out on her own behalf because of a court order. But her allies and supporters were not gagged. And the line they peddled on her behalf was clear.
Ex-Labour MP says it's 'obvious' Rayner must resign
A former Labour MP has said it is 'obvious' Angela Rayner must resign following her admission she didn't pay enough stamp duty.
Simon Danczuk, who represented Labour in Rochdale for seven years in Parliament but has now switched to Reform, told the Telegraph:
Obviously, Angela Rayner must now resign. But it’s important to note those politicians consoling, supporting, defending her are as much part of the problem. They too bring British politics into disrepute. The public expect this wrong doing to be punished, not sympathised with.
Watch: Badenoch urges Starmer to show 'backbone' and sack Rayner
This is the moment Kemi Badenoch challenged the Prime Minister to sack Angela Rayner at Prime Minister's Questions earlier in the Commons.
The Conservative lader suggested Sir Keir Starmer had no 'backbone' to dismiss the Deputy Prime Minister.
Watch the exchange below:
Rayner admits she considered resigning as future lies in limbo
Angela Rayner's political future appears in the hands of Sir Laurie Magnus, the Prime Minister's Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards.
Ms Rayner said she will be provide the ethics adviser with her 'fullest co-operation and access to all the information he requires'.
Sir Laurie will rule on whether Ms Rayner breached standards.
Any breach will surely place her political future in doubt after she was considered among the frontrunners to become a future Labour Party leader.
Pressed on whether she had considered standing down, she said she had 'spoken to my family about it' and 'the number one priority for me and my ex-husband has always been to support our children and do the best thing for our children'.
Rayner was previously investigated by HMRC
Prior to last year's general election, the Tories urged HMRC to investigate Ms Rayner over whether she had paid enough tax after selling her former council home almost a decade earlier.
It came following a Mail on Sunday's exclusive investigation which suggested she could have been liable for up to £3,000 capital gains tax after the house was sold for £48,500 profit.
But HMRC were understood to have looked into the matter at Ms Rayner's request and concluded there was no capital gains tax liability.
Watch: Sir Keir Starmer backs Rayner in PMQs
The Prime Minister insisted he was 'proud' to sit alongside Angela Rayner as he faced calls to sack the Deputy Prime Minister from Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch at Prime Minister’s Questions.
Sir Keir said in response:
(Ms Rayner) has explained her personal circumstances in detail. She’s gone over and above in setting out the details, including yesterday afternoon asking a court to lift the confidentiality order in relation to her own son.
I know from speaking at length with the Deputy Prime Minister, just how difficult that decision was for her and her family, but she did it to ensure that all the information is in the public domain.
I can be clear, I am very proud to sit alongside a Deputy Prime Minister who is building 1.5 million homes, who is bringing the biggest upgrade to workers’ rights for a generation, and has come from a working class background to be Deputy Prime Minister.
Rayner declares she's working with HMRC over tax error
Ms Rayner has released a statement confirming she is working with HMRC and lawyers to ensure she pays the correct amount of stamp duty.
In a statement, she said:
When purchasing the property my understanding, on advice from lawyers, was that my circumstances meant I was liable for the standard rate of stamp duty.
However, given the recent allegations in the press I have subsequently sought further advice from a leading tax counsel to review that position and to ensure I am fully compliant with all tax provisions.
I have now been advised that although I did not own any other property at the time of the purchase, the application of complex deeming provisions which relate to my son's trust gives rise to additional stamp duty liabilities.
I acknowledge that due to my reliance on advice from lawyers which did not properly take account of these provisions, I did not pay the appropriate stamp duty at the time of the purchase. I am working with expert lawyers and with HMRC to resolve the matter and pay what is due.
Tories launch all out attack on Rayner
Shadow chancellor Mel Stride is the latest Conservative to attack Ms Rayner following her admission on not paying enough stamp duty.
Mr Stride said it was 'utterly extraordinary' Ms Rayner failed to correctly pay the right amount of taxes as families are hit by 'Labour's tax hikes'.
Explained: The controversy around 'Three Pads' Rayner
Angela Rayner has been dubbed 'Three Pads' Rayner following her purchase of a flat in Hove.
She is said to have saved £40,000 in stamp duty on the apartment because she removed her name from the deeds of a family property in her constituency of Ashton-under-Lyne in Greater Manchester.
The deed changes supposedly allowed Ms Rayner to pay £30,000 in stamp duty instead of £70,000, which would have been applied if the Hove property was her second home.
But the Hove flat is not her 'main residence' for council tax purposes, with the Ashton-under-Lyne home remaining her primary residence.
This is said to save some £2,000 in council tax on her third home, a three-bedroom grace-and-favour flat in Admiralty House.
What Angela Rayner said about Nadhim Zahawi's tax affairs
Here's what Angela Rayner said about the then Conservative Party chairman Nadhim Zahawi who resigned over a tax error in January 2023.
Badenoch asks why Rayner is still in office
Kemi Badenoch has asked Sir Keir Starmer why Angela Rayner is still in office following her admission on underpaying stamp duty.
In response to the Conservative leader, Sir Keir said Ms Rayner has gone 'over and above' setting out the detail of her tax affairs which he said included asking a court to lift a confidentiality order relating to her son yesterday.
The Prime Minister adds he's proud to sit beside Rayner who has risen from a 'working class background' to Deputy Prime Minister.
Earlier, Ms Rayner took her seat on the frontbench and received a hug from Commons Leader Lucy Powell before the session started.
'I'm devastated because I've always upheld the rules': What Angela Rayner told Sky News
Angela Rayner was in tears as she admitted she hadn't paid enough stamp duty on a property she purchased a £800,000 property in Hove.
She was reported to have saved £40,000 in stamp duty on the flat because she removed her name from the deeds of a family property in her Ashton-under-Lyne constituency, meaning the Hove property is the only property she owns.
She told Sky’s Electoral Dysfunction podcast:
I’ve been in shock, really, because I thought I’d done everything properly, and I relied on the advice that I received and I’m devastated because I’ve always upheld the rules and always have felt proud to do that.
That it is devastating for me and the fact that the reason why those confidential clauses were in place was to protect my son, who, through no fault of his own, he’s vulnerable, he’s got this life-changing, lifelong conditions and I don’t want him or anything to do with his day-to-day life, to be subjected to that level of scrutiny.
Breaking:Rayner refers herself to ethics adviser as political future thrown into doubt
Here's our breaking news story on Angela Rayner following the Deputy Prime Minister's admission she underpaid stamp duty on her second home.
Ms Rayner admitted her error during an interview with Sky News which emerged this morning.
Stick with us for more developments and reaction with Prime Minister's Questions about to take place.
Read our story here:
Watch: Angela Rayner admits she didn't pay enough tax on second home
Hello and welcome to the Daily Mail's live blog as Angela Rayner admits she did not pay enough stamp duty on her second home and has considered resigning.
The Deputy Prime Minister said that she has referred herself to the independent adviser on ministerial standards.
Ms Rayner said she had received inaccurate tax advice and had spoken to her family about quitting.
The Housing Secretary has been under intense pressure over her tax affairs after media reports about her purchase of a flat in Hove.
