Angela Rayner‘s property lawyers today avoided any responsibility for the fiasco over her tax.
The high-street conveyancing firm she used to buy a flat issued a devastating statement saying they had calculated the stamp duty based on the information she provided.
It could prove a fatal blow to the deputy prime minister who had sought to lay the blame for her troubles on her advisers.
In her tearful interview on Wednesday she said she had received incorrect advice over the amount of stamp duty to pay.
But today the small family-run conveyancing firm which dealt with her property purchase, Verrico & Associates, based in Herne Bay, Lent, hit back.
Managing director Joanna Verrico told the Daily Mail: ‘We acted for Ms Rayner when she purchased the flat in Hove. We did not and never have given tax or trust advice. It’s something we always refer our clients to an accountant or tax expert for.
‘The stamp duty for the Hove flat was calculated using HMRC‘s own online calculator based on the figures and the information provided by Ms Rayner.
‘That’s what we used and it told us we had to pay £30,000 based on the information provided to us. We believe that we did everything correctly and in good faith. Everything was exactly as it should be.
‘We probably are being made scapegoats for all this and I have got the arrows stuck in my back to show it. We are not an inexperienced firm, but we’re not qualified to give advice on trust and tax matters and we advise clients to seek expert advice on these.’
Angela Rayner ‘s property lawyers today avoided any responsibility for the fiasco over her tax
Sir Laurie Magnus is investigating whether Ms Rayner broke the ministerial code, following her admission that she did not pay enough stamp duty on a flat she bought in Hove (pictured) this year
Rayner’s £650,000 constituency home (pictured) in Ashton-Under-Lyne
Reports say Ms Rayner sought specialist tax advice as well as advice from her conveyancers.
Sir Keir Starmer has repeatedly refused to say whether he would sack Ms Rayner if a probe into her tax affairs finds she broke ministerial rules.
The deputy PM is clinging to her political career as the ministerial ethics adviser prepares to deliver his verdict as soon as Friday.
Sir Laurie Magnus is investigating whether Ms Rayner broke the ministerial code, following her admission that she did not pay enough stamp duty on a flat she bought in Hove this year.
But last night Sir Keir refused five times to say whether he would sack his deputy if she has broken the rules.
The PM told the BBC: ‘Angela Rayner has referred herself to the independent adviser. My experience is he will be comprehensive in the report that he gives me. He will be quick, and that’s what I’m expecting. And so I want to let that process take its course.’
Housing Secretary Ms Rayner has been under mounting pressure after it emerged she had saved £40,000 in stamp duty on a property purchase in Hove by not paying the higher rate for second homes.
She referred herself to independent adviser Sir Laurie and said she made a ‘mistake’ in paying the standard rate, based on legal advice she received at the time.
Sir Keir and his Cabinet rallied round Ms Rayner yesterday, despite calls for her to quit, with the Prime Minister and Chancellor Rachel Reeves both expressing ‘full confidence’ in her.
But former shadow chancellor Ed Balls, who is married to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, said it was ‘hypocritical’ for Ms Rayner not to resign.
‘I think there is sympathy for her personal situation… but Angela Rayner was the person who was on the moral high ground demanding others resign,’ he told his Political Currency podcast.
Sir Keir Starmer has repeatedly refused to say whether he would sack Ms Rayner if a probe into her tax affairs finds she broke ministerial rules
‘And it’s hypocritical of her [to have] one rule for everybody else, a different rule for her, for her not to resign.’
One Labour MP predicted Ms Rayner would survive in the short term, but warned that her political reputation would never recover.
‘It’s grim,’ the source said. ‘Grim for her but also grim for the rest of us, because she’s our best message-carrier – she’s the one who really connects with our people.
‘I think she’ll survive but as a much diminished figure. Then you’re in a position where if there’s one more thing she just becomes a laughing stock. It’s very sad.’
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage told the Mail Ms Rayner is in ‘very deep trouble – I think she’ll struggle to survive’.
He stopped just short of calling for her to go, but added: ‘I would like to know what the truth is. You know, it doesn’t look good. If she used that trust fund in her kid’s name to buy the other house that does not look good.
‘From what I can see of it, she should go but I would like to see what the full evidence is.’
Meanwhile, Sir Keir came under fire for defending Ms Rayner despite knowing she was waiting for fresh legal advice on her tax affairs.
The Prime Minister claimed those ‘briefing against’ and ‘talking down’ his deputy were making ‘a mistake’ in a radio interview on Monday.
But on Thursday it emerged that Sir Keir knew then that Ms Rayner had commissioned fresh legal advice on her tax affairs.
Last night Conservative former leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said it was a ‘fundamental mistake’ for the PM to attack others for criticising Ms Rayner.
Last night Sir Keir refused five times to say whether he would sack his deputy if she has broken the rules
‘The question at the end of it all comes down to Sir Keir Starmer’s judgment,’ he told the Mail. ‘Attacking others for criticising her when he must have known, or it appears that he knew at the time what was going on, was a fundamental mistake.’
Government sources said Ms Rayner instructed a senior lawyer, a KC, to review whether she had paid the correct stamp duty last Friday evening.
A draft opinion from the KC came back on the evening of Monday September 1, the senior source said. It is thought this differed from previous advice she had received.
Also on Monday, No10 said that Ms Rayner had applied to lift a court order which she said prevented her from speaking out. It was lifted late on Tuesday September 2.
Downing Street said yesterday that Sir Keir was kept informed ‘as appropriate’ about the steps Ms Rayner had taken over her tax affairs.
But on Monday he told the BBC: ‘Angela has had people briefing against her and talking her down over and over again. It’s a mistake, by the way.’
Downing Street yesterday insisted Sir Keir was making an ‘overarching point’ and said his words ‘need to be taken in the context that they were issued’.
But Conservative Party chairman Kevin Hollinrake told the Mail: ‘Angela Rayner’s tax affairs have become a serious crisis for both her and Keir Starmer.
‘For weeks, the public have been given misleading statements and half-truths, while key questions remain unanswered.
‘Starmer promised a government of integrity, yet he has failed to explain what he knew, when he knew it and why he continues to stand by Rayner despite the mounting evidence.
‘The Prime Minister must be transparent, take responsibility and sack Angela Rayner immediately.’
The final legal advice from the KC arrived on Wednesday morning, and Ms Rayner then made a public statement, admitting she underpaid stamp duty.
The Deputy PM also referred herself to the Prime Minister’s independent ethics adviser and said she was working with HMRC to pay back any tax she owed.
