Starmer backs deputy over tax advice decision

ANGELA RAYNER said she would not publish the tax advice she received on the sale of her council house, as Sir Keir Starmer backed his deputy’s decision and expressed his “full confidence” in her amid fresh scrutiny over her living situation a decade ago.

Ms Rayner said she would only release the “personal” information if the Conservatives calling for her to do so publish theirs. It comes after Greater Manchester Police said it was reassessing its decision not to investigate allegations she gave false information on official documents, after pressure from Conservative Party deputy chairman James Daly.

Labour’s deputy leader has faced questions about whether she paid the right amount of tax on the 2015 sale of her council house due to confusion over whether it was her principal residency.

The senior Labour MP yesterday again insisted she had “done absolutely nothing wrong” and took legal advice that no rules were broken.

Asked why she would not publish that advice, Ms Rayner told BBC Radio 4’ s Today programme: “Because that’s my personal tax advice. But I’m happy to comply with the necessary authorities that want to see that.”

She said she would hand over the information to the police and HMRC, “but I’m not going to put out all of my personal details for the last 15 years about my family”.

Labour leader Sir Keir publicly backed his deputy, telling his party’s local election campaign launch in the West Midlands: “Angela has my full support and my full confidence today and every day.”

He also said: “She has not broken any rules, she has in fact taken legal and tax advice which has satisfied her, and us, and me about the position.”

Asked if Ms Rayner would be publishing her legal advice, Sir Keir said she was willing to share information with the relevant authorities, adding: “But should she publish legal tax advice? No she shouldn’t.”

Ms Rayner has rejected suggestions in a book by former Tory deputy chairman Lord Ashcroft that she failed to properly declare her main home.

The unauthorised biography alleges that the MP for Ashtonunder-Lyne bought her former council house, in Vicarage Road in Stockport, Greater Manchester, with a 25% discount in 2007 under the right- to- buy scheme. The former carer is said to have made a £ 48,500 profit when selling the house eight years later.

Government guidance says that a tenant can apply to buy their council home through the right- to- buy scheme if it is their “only or main home”.

Her husband was listed at another address in Lowndes Lane, about a mile away, which had also been bought under the right- to- buy scheme.

Tax experts have estimated that, while Ms Rayner may not have owed anything in capital gains tax following the sale depending on her residency situation, there are circumstances in which she could have owed as much as £ 3500 to the taxman.