Pay up, Angela ... it’s a fair cop!
Verdict of Rayner’s father as he reveals she ‘flitted’ between homes in tax row
THE Angela Rayner tax row intensified last night after her father said his advice would have been to accept it was a ‘fair cop’ and pay any money she owed.
Amid an ongoing investigation into her past living arrangements, Martin Bowen said his daughter ‘flitted’ between her former council house – which she sold for a £48,000 profit – and her then-husband’s property a mile away.
But despite Labour’s deputy leader insisting she has legal advice to say she did not owe capital gains tax, Mr Bowen cast doubt on her account by saying he would have accepted that there had been ‘an error’ had he been in her shoes.
Mr Bowen, 68, also confirmed the testimony of Ms Rayner’s ex- neighbours in Vicarage Road, Stockport that her brother Darren lived there after her 2010 marriage to Mark Rayner – despite being registered to vote at her husband’s house.
Knowingly providing false information on an electoral registration form can carry a six-month prison sentence.
Greater Manchester Police this month launched a probe into claims that before becoming an MP in 2015, Ms Rayner wrongly declared on the electoral roll she was living at the former council house, which she bought in 2007 under the Right to Buy Scheme. Officers are also understood to be looking into whether she wrongly claimed a single person’s council tax discount on her property while allowing her brother to live there.
Ms Rayner denies any wrongdoing and claims the council house was her main residence until she sold it in 2015, meaning she was not liable for capital gains tax of up to £3,500. Married couples or those in civil partnerships can only have one main residence for tax purposes.
But she has said she and Mr Rayner, who split in 2020, ‘decided to maintain our existing residences’ until buying a home together in 2016. Speaking about the arrangement, Mr Bowen said his daughter had been ‘flitting’. He also said that had he faced the same allegations, his reaction would have been that it was a ‘fair cop’. He told The Sun on Sunday: ‘I’d have probably gone, “I’ll pay the £1,500 or whatever it is, there’s an error, make my apologies and if it’s not then you give me my money back.’
Admitting he’s not spoken to her about it, he added: ‘Would she stick her head above the parapet for £1,500? I wouldn’t.’ But asked if he thought his daughter had deliberately done something wrong, he replied: ‘No.’
A Labour Party spokesman said: ‘Ms Rayner will cooperate with any investigation and she is confident she followed the rules at all times.’
‘Make my apologies’