Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
FURY OVER 12 COPS TO LOOK AT RAYNER
Neighbours lash out at ‘witch hunt’ probe of MP’S house sale
POLICE have sparked outrage by sending at least 12 officers to investigate Angela Rayner over her council house sale.
Neighbours in the Labour Deputy Leader’s old street said they were in disbelief and labelled the investigation a witch hunt and waste of money.
One man said: “Twelve? It’s nonsense. I do understand there is an issue but, crikey, it looks like punching down, doesn’t it?”
A long-time resident of Vicarage Road in Stockport, who gave his name as Tony, said: “I think it’s excessive. It seems like a bit of a witch hunt.
“If she has done wrong, then she has done wrong, but there are worse shenanigans going on, especially in the Tory party.”
Another man said: “It is because there is a general election coming up. It is like a smear campaign.” A female neighbour added: “It’s a waste of taxpayers’ money.”
Greater Manchester Police is looking into whether any offences were committed by Ms Rayner in the sale of her former council house in 2015 after Tory complaints. They have questioned whether she paid the right amount of tax because of confusion over whether it was her principal residence.
Ms Rayner has vowed to quit if police conclude she has committed a criminal offence. But she has insisted she followed the rules at all times.
At PMQS yesterday, Keir Starmer and
Rishi Sunak clashed over the row as the PM made a jibe saying the Labour leader should spend more time examining her tax advice.
But defending his No2, Mr Starmer accused millionaire Sunak of smearing a working-class woman while his own family had “used schemes to avoid millions of pounds in tax”.
Manchester police previously said Ms Rayner would not face scrutiny
over accusations she broke electoral law by giving false information about her main residence. But they ended up launching a probe last week.
GMP said it followed a reassessment of the information provided by Tory deputy chairman James Daly.
Ms Rayner is accused of falsely claiming she lived at the house she owned in Vicarage Road when she was apparently living at ex-husband Mark Rayner’s house a mile down the road.
Yesterday it was reported GMP’S investigation is not limited to potential electoral law offences and may involve tax matters but it declined to comment.
Speaking to the BBC on Tuesday, GMP Chief Constable Stephen Watson said there were a “number of assertions knocking about”.
According to a poll by Labour List for Savanta last night, 39% of voters said the row over Ms Rayner’s former house sounds like a smear campaign, compared to 38% who said it did not.