A Labour MP has publicly condemned Angela Rayner over her controversial property dealings.
The Deputy Prime Minister is facing backlash after it was revealed that she saved £40,000 in stamp duty when buying a seaside flat in Hove, East Sussex, after telling tax authorities it was her main residence.
Graham Stringer, the MP for Blackley and Middleton South, said the ‘optics’ of Ms Rayner’s actions did not ‘look good’, as the Government prepares for the autumn Budget.
Speaking to Times Radio, Mr Stringer said: ‘I’ve no idea if she’s broken any rules. I think it is always better for ministers to be transparent and to explain their financial dealings.’
He added it that it looked as if Ms Rayner was ‘manipulating the tax system’ for her benefit.
‘We all have a right to adjust our financial affairs in our own interest. But the optics of it, just before the Chancellor is going to do a Budget, doesn’t look good’, he added.
It is understood Ms Rayner’s primary residence remains her family home in Greater Manchester, but that following her divorce she ceased to own a stake in the property.
This meant she was able to avoid the higher rate of stamp duty that would have been applied when buying the Hove flat if it had been classified as a second home, The Telegraph reported.
Labour MP Graham Stringer has publicly condemned Angela Rayner over her controversial property dealings
The Deputy Prime Minister is facing backlash after it was revealed that she saved £40,000 in stamp duty when buying a seaside flat in Hove, East Sussex
She is thought to have paid around £30,000 in stamp duty on the Hove apartment, instead of £70,000.
The Conservatives lodged a formal request for an investigation into whether the Deputy PM broke the ministerial code in her purchase of her £800,000 second home.
But she would have had to pay £70,000 if the flat had been considered a second home because of a tax regime designed to discourage holiday home purchases.
A spokesman for Ms Rayner last night said she had paid her taxes in full and done nothing wrong.
However questions remain about how she funded the luxurious apartment in Hove, where she is actually living and where she should pay council tax.
Former Tory Home Secretary Dame Priti Patel branded Ms Rayner ‘a hypocrite and a freeloader’, adding: ‘She wants everyone else to pay higher taxes on family homes but doesn’t want to pay it herself.’
In a letter to the Prime Minister’s independent adviser on ministerial interests, Sir Laurie Magnus, the Conservatives called for an inquiry into whether Ms Rayner had broken the ministerial code.
Tory chairman Kevin Hollinrake accused Ms Rayner of making ‘contradictory’ statements about where she is living, adding: ‘This may be lawful but it is inappropriate tax avoidance for a minister subject to higher standards of conduct.’
