Angela Rayner's flat graffitied with 'tax evader' following stamp duty row

Graffiti has appeared on the deputy prime minister’s Hove flat, calling her a “tax evader” following the news she did not pay enough stamp duty on the property.

On Wednesday, Angela Rayner said she had referred herself to the independent adviser on ministerial standards over the issue and had considered resigning.

She said she received inaccurate tax advice over her complex property arrangements, in which she said a court-instructed trust was established in 2020 following a “deeply personal and distressing incident” involving her son as a premature baby.

He was left with life-long disabilities and to ensure he continued to have stability in the family home in Greater Manchester, she said her family had agreed that its interest in that property would be transferred to the trust.

On Thursday, the Daily Telegraph newspaper reported that she sold her remaining stake in the family home to the trust for £160,000.

Rayner then purchased the flat in Hove after selling her stake in the family home to her son’s trust – leading to reports she had saved £40,000 in stamp duty.

Rayner said she had believed, on legal advice, that she was liable for the standard rate of stamp duty, but was later advised that, although she did not own any other property at the time of the purchase, complex provisions relating to the trust “gives rise to additional stamp duty liabilities”.

Tax experts said the new property could not be treated as her only residence because of the nature of the trust.

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Sir Keir Starmer stood by his deputy at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, saying he was “very proud to sit alongside her” amid calls from opposition critics for her to resign over the row.

His chancellor Rachel Reeves has also backed Rayner, telling broadcasters on Thursday: “I have full confidence in Angela Rayner. She’s a good friend and a colleague she has accepted the right stamp duty wasn’t paid.

“That was an error, that was a mistake. She is working hard now to rectify that, in contact with HMRC to make sure that the correct tax is paid.”

Rayner has said she is “working with expert lawyers and with HMRC to resolve the matter and pay what is due”.

Politics

Angela Rayner admits she did not pay enough stamp duty on second home

The deputy prime minister said she has referred herself to the independent adviser on ministerial standards.

Home graffitied

On Thursday, Rayner’s flat in Hove was targeted by vandals, with the words “tax evader” and “b****” appearing on a white wall outside the property.

Across from the property, construction chipboard bore the phrases “Tax evader Rayner” and “Rayner tax avoidance”.

A spokesperson for Angela Rayner said vandalism at her Hove flat is “totally unjustifiable and beyond the pale”.

The spokesperson said: “This vandalism to residents’ homes is totally unjustifiable and beyond the pale.

“Neither Angela nor her neighbours deserve to be subjected to harassment and intimidation.

“It will rightly be a matter for the police to take action as they deem appropriate.”

A Downing Street spokesperson said Starmer “condemns this vandalism in the strongest possible terms”, adding: “Whatever scrutiny our parliamentarians may face, it is appalling that their private homes should be targeted in this way.”