Angela Rayner is a “massive hypocrite” for failing to pay enough stamp duty on her home, former Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson has said.
Speaking to Beth Rigby on the Sky News Electoral Dysfunction podcast, Ms Davidson said the deputy prime minister’s fall from her “high horse” would be “pretty high” given her past criticisms of Tory politicians.
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But Harriet Harman, the former Labour deputy leader, said it would an “absolute travesty” if Ms Rayner, the housing secretary, had to “go for the chop”.
Speaking to the Electoral Dysfunction podcast on Wednesday, the deputy prime minister became tearful after she admitted she did not pay the right amount of stamp duty on the purchase of her second home.
Ms Rayner claimed she received incorrect tax advice and spoke to her family about “packing it all in”.
She has also referred herself to the independent adviser on ministerial standards.
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Ms Rayner, who is also the housing secretary, has been under scrutiny after a report in The Daily Telegraph claimed she avoided £40,000 in stamp duty on a flat in Hove by removing her name from the deeds of another property in Greater Manchester.
In a lengthy statement, she said it was a “complex living arrangement” as her first home was sold to a trust following her divorce to provide stability for her teenage son, who has lifelong disabilities and is the sole beneficiary of the trust.
She said initial legal advice was that the standard rate of stamp duty applied, but following media reports, she sought expert counsel who said more tax was due.
Baroness Davidson said the saga made Ms Rayner “a massive hypocrite because she would never let somebody off with the rationale that she’s put forward”.
She added: “But as a human being, I can look at her, I can see her being upset, and I can see how it might have happened.”
The Tory peer said there were “legitimate questions” about “why did the housing minister that makes the rules break the rules?”
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“She took the best advice, but nevertheless, the rules were broken. And that is an utterly legitimate question.
“And I think the fall from your high horse is pretty high. Angela Rayner was the attack dog. Her own words are ‘there’s one rule for them and one for everybody else.”
Baroness Harman said she believed Ms Rayner’s case was “a story not just about paying the right amount of stamp duty – it’s about how you actually be a mother in public life of a child with disabilities”.
“I am so full of admiration that this woman who’s had a child, one of her children with disabilities, and all the understanding that brings with her and what it’s like fighting for and bringing up a child with disabilities.
“And I think that it would be an absolute travesty if the, prime minister’s ethics adviser, when she has taken advice, says, as it turns out, the advice was wrong and therefore you’ve got to go for the chop.”
