Tories call for investigation into Angela Rayner over her tax affairs

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner should face an ethics inquiry over her tax affairs, the Conservatives have said.

It comes after The Daily Telegraph claimed Ms Rayner, who is also housing secretary, avoided £40,000 in stamp duty on a second home in East Sussex by removing her name from the deeds of another property in Greater Manchester.

Stamp duty is a tax paid in England and Northern Ireland when someone buys a property over a certain price.

The newspaper also claimed Ms Rayner previously suggested the Greater Manchester home remained her primary residence, saving around £2,000 in council tax on her grace and favour home in central London.

Conservative chairman Kevin Hollinrake has written to the independent adviser on ministerial standards, Sir Laurie Magnus, requesting he investigate whether Ms Rayner broke ministerial rules.

In a letter to Sir Laurie, Mr Hollinrake described Ms Rayner’s arrangements as “hypocritical tax avoidance, by a minister who supports higher taxes on family homes, high-value homes and second homes”.

As housing secretary, Ms Rayner is responsible for overseeing council tax and housing policy.

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Mr Hollinrake said the statements she had given on her residency were “contradictory”, but conceded she had broken no laws.

A spokesperson for Ms Rayner has said she “paid the correct duty” on the purchase “entirely properly” – and “any suggestion otherwise is entirely without basis”.

A Cabinet Office spokesman added that Ms Rayner “has followed advice on the allocation of her official residence at all times”.