Angela Rayner declines to publish tax advice on sale of council home

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.

I’m not going to put out all of my personal details for the last 15 years about my family

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 on Thursday 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”.

Angela has my full support and my full confidence today and every day

Ms Rayner said if Mr Daly, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt published their tax details for the last 15 years, she would do the same.

“If you show me yours, then I’ll show you mine,” she said.

Labour leader Sir Keir publicly backed his deputy, telling his party’s local election campaign launch in the West Midlands on Thursday: “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.

“Where does this end? Are you going to be calling for Tory ministers to publish their legal and tax advice going back over the last 15 years? That is where this ends.”

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 Ashton-under-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.

In the same year as her wedding, Ms Rayner is said to have re-registered the births of her two youngest children, giving her address as where her husband resided.

Ms Rayner has insisted that Vicarage Road was her “principal property” despite her husband living elsewhere at the time.

But neighbours have reportedly disputed her claim that she lived apart from her husband.

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 £3,500 to the taxman.

Mr Daly made police aware of neighbours’ statements, and alleged Ms Rayner may have made a false declaration about where she was living on the electoral register.

A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police on Wednesday said: “We have received a complaint regarding our decision not to investigate an allegation and are in the process of reassessing this decision.

“The complainant will be updated with the outcome of the reassessment in due course.”