‘Landlady’ Angela Rayner withholds tax advice as police investigate

Angela Rayner has again refused to publish the tax advice she has been given over selling her council house – as Greater Manchester Police (GMP) says it will reinvestigate the matter.

The move follows criticism from Conservative Party deputy chairman, James Daly, of the police after they said there was nothing to investigate on whether Ms Rayner had broken electoral law.

Mr Daly complained that officers had not contacted witnesses or looked at relevant documents.

GMP says the case will be reconsidered by a detective chief inspector.

The Daily Mail reports today (Wednesday) that neighbours of Ms Rayner who dispute her version of events haven’t been approached by police yet.

They insist that the MP and her former partner did not maintain two homes but lived in one.

Neighbours also insist that Ms Rayner’s brother lived in the council house she bought – and he referred to her as his ‘landlady’.

Information on Ms Rayner’s electoral roll submission

Mr Daly has also written Stockport Council asking for information on Ms Rayner’s electoral roll submission.

He is also asking about her council tax claims, and potential council tax or electoral roll fraud.

Mr Daly wants the council to reveal whether Ms Rayner claimed the single-person discount on council tax at her home.

The implication is that if her brother was living there with her, that would amount to council tax fraud.

And, if her brother was living there but she wasn’t, that would confirm electoral roll fraud.

Will comply with any requests for information

Ms Rayner has stated that she will comply with any requests for information from the police or HMRC, but she will not disclose her personal details from the past 15 years.

She told BBC Today programme: “I am confident that I’ve done absolutely nothing wrong. I’ve been very clear on my advice that I’ve received.”

When questioned why she shouldn’t put that advice into the public domain, she replied: “Because that’s my personal tax advice.

“But I’m happy to comply with the necessary authorities that want to see that.

“But I don’t think we are going down the road of MPs, whenever somebody says, ‘Well what is happening with your capital gains tax’, we want to see all the information and detail.

“If we are, I am happy. If we are all going to have a level playing field… you show me yours and I’ll show you mine.”

Some critics have argued that Ms Rayner has previously called for Conservatives to reveal their tax affairs in Parliament.

They include a Tory by-election candidate and telling the MP Nadhim Zahawi to ‘come clean’ over his tax issues at the time.

Controversy over the Stockport house sale

The controversy over the Stockport house sale, which was her former council house, was bought by Ms Rayner in 2007 under the Right to Buy scheme.

It was registered as her primary address on the electoral roll.

Consequently, she was exempt from paying capital gains tax on the £48,000 profit made from the property’s sale in 2015.

A few weeks after her wedding to Mark Rayner in 2010, she updated the birth records of her two youngest children to his address, located just over a mile away.

This has led to speculation about whether she had relocated to live with her now-separated husband without updating her electoral register address.

According to HMRC regulations, only one property can be designated as the primary residence by married or civilly partnered couples.

Ms Rayner says the news stories are a ‘smear’ and have been ‘manufactured’.

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