Angela Rayner: did she commit tax fraud?
An unofficial biography released in March claimed that she avoided paying capital gains tax on a 2015 property sale
Angela Rayner unnerves the Tories, said Adam Boulton in The i Paper. In an "otherwise austere Labour leadership team", the party's deputy leader stands out for her charisma and remarkable backstory.
Raised by an illiterate, disabled mother, she left school at 16, with no qualifications, to care for her own baby, and later worked in social care before becoming a trade union official. Rayner is not some "dismal, hair-shirted, middle-class lefty". She's lively, authentic and "unembarrassedly aspirational".
When the then deputy prime minister, Dominic Raab, mocked her in the Commons as a "champagne socialist" for accepting an invitation to Glyndebourne, she retorted that The Marriage of Figaro was "the story of a working-class woman who gets the better of a privileged but dim-witted villain". No wonder Tory critics are so desperate to bring Rayner down over claims that she dodged tax on the sale of her former council house.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
'The claims seem credible'
The claims – which emerged in a new unofficial biography of Rayner by the Tory peer Michael Ashcroft – seem credible, said Dan Hodges in The Mail on Sunday. Rayner was exempted from paying capital gains tax on the £48,500 profit she made from the sale of her Stockport council house in 2015 because – according to the electoral roll – it was her primary residence. Yet the primary residence of her children and husband, whom she married in 2010, was another house a mile away.
Did Rayner really live apart from her family for the first five years of her marriage? Not according to neighbours: they say her brother lived in the sold house. Rayner insists she has private tax advice clearing her of any wrongdoing. Stockport Council and Greater Manchester Police are assessing whether she committed electoral or tax fraud.
'If you dish it, you need to be able to take it'
As such rows go, this is very small beer, said Camilla Long in The Sunday Times. We're talking about perhaps £1,500 of possibly unpaid tax, which is nothing compared with the £5m the former Tory chancellor, Nadhim Zahawi, was "careless" to overlook. Given the amount of "snobbery and misogyny" Rayner must have faced over her political career, it's tempting to dismiss the whole story as just a smear campaign.
But if Rayner did indeed screw up over her house sale – and the facts look pretty damning – she should come clean. She is the first to attack political opponents over any sign of impropriety. "If you dish it, you need to be able to take it. You can't just scream 'Tory scum'." That Rayner is still insisting, implausibly, on her complete innocence and deflecting questions with anti-Tory rhetoric suggests she may not be such an asset to Labour after all.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Escape seaside in Newport, Rhode Island
The Week Recommends For the quintessential New England experience, head to the Classic Coast
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published
-
The long-awaited return of the college football video game
In the Spotlight EA Sports' 'College Football 25' is the first installment of the series in 11 years
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Crossword: July 25, 2024
The Week's daily crossword
By The Week Staff Published
-
Iran: does Masoud Pezeshkian's election mark a turning point?
Talking Point New president is seen as a progressive but much will depend on how the US reacts
By The Week UK Published
-
The Trump immunity ruling: a licence to break the law?
Talking Point 'End of democracy' fears may be overblown, but the Supreme Court verdict is already having a noxious impact
By The Week UK Published
-
Showdown in New York: the most expensive primary in history
Talking Point Pro-Israel lobby poured funding into campaign against Jamaal Bowman, but don't count out his own contribution to his defeat
By The Week UK Published
-
Is Nigel Farage heading to the Commons?
Talking Point Reform UK leader looks on track to 'turn British politics upside-down' once again
By The Week UK Published
-
First-past-the-post: time for electoral reform?
Talking Point If smaller parties win votes but not seats, the 2024 election could be a turning point for proportional representation
By The Week UK Published
-
The SNP: a lacklustre manifesto?
Talking Point Voters 'getting weary' of familiar fare from Scottish National Party
By The Week UK Published
-
Is it time for Joe Biden to bow out?
Talking Point President's dismal performance has heightened Democrats' concerns over his odds against Trump
By Julia O'Driscoll, The Week UK Published
-
The Greens: a new force on the Left
Talking Point The party's manifesto 'centrepiece' is a bold wealth tax
By The Week UK Published