Reeves says she has ‘full faith and trust’ in ‘2 homes’ Rayner

THE Shadow Chancellor last night insisted that Angela Rayner did not dodge tax in the sale of her house, although she has not seen the advice her colleague was given. Amid questions over the Labour deputy leader’s property dealings, Rachel Reeves said she has ‘every faith’ in her ‘friend and colleague’.

In an interview with Sky news, Ms Reeves was asked whether she thought her colleague had ‘dodged any tax’. She replied: ‘no, and Angela Rayner has taken tax advice.’

on whether she had seen that advice, she said: ‘no, I haven’t seen the tax returns or the tax or legal advice of any colleagues. I wouldn’t treat Angela Rayner different to other colleagues.

‘She has taken that advice as she is confident, and I have every faith and trust in my friend and colleague.’ Ms Rayner is facing questions over whether she paid the right amount of tax on the 2015 sale of her ex-council house because of confusion over whether it was her main residence. She has denied allegations that she avoided capital gains tax on the sale of her own house or broke electoral law by falsely declaring where she was living.

Polling shared with the Mail found two-thirds of voters believe Ms Rayner should make the tax advice on her house sale public.

Sir Keir Starmer has insisted the public are ‘more interested’ in other issues, but a More in Common survey similarly found that 67 per cent wanted Ms Rayner to publish the advice. The Labour leader said he has not seen the advice – which Ms Rayner says is ‘categoric that I do not owe any capital gains tax on that’ – but his team has. Before becoming an MP, Ms Rayner used Margaret Thatcher’s Right to Buy scheme to purchase her former council home in Vicarage Road, Stockport, in January 2007.

She married Mark Rayner in September 2010 and the couple re-registered the births of their two sons that year, providing Mr Rayner’s address in nearby Lowndes Lane.

But Ms Rayner remained on the electoral roll at Vicarage Road until 2015, when she sold the house at a profit of £48,500. Knowingly providing false information on an electoral registration form is an offence, which can carry a six-month prison sentence or an unlimited fine.

A married couple can also normally

‘Sold at a profit of £48,500’

have only one main residence, with capital gains tax due on the sale of a second home.

Ms Reeves’ comments came as economists questioned her claims yesterday that Labour would raise £5billion a year by cracking down on tax dodgers.

Deputy director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies Helen Miller said there was ‘uncertainty’ around how much this would raise.