Keir Starmer - and his miserable government

Rayner has admitted dodging Stamp Duty on her new home and "considered resigning". If it was someone from any other party she'd be screaming for their head on a plate. She has to go.

If she ends up returning to the backbenches the huge pay cut (£67,500) will make life fun for her with the £800k mortgage she's just taken out



Meanwhile, the new leader of the Green Party is a man who once tried to convince women that he could enlarge their breasts by hypnotising them. As per usual, there are crooks on all sides of the house.

".....When purchasing the property my understanding, on advice from lawyers, was that my circumstances meant I was liable for the standard rate of stamp duty.

However, given the recent allegations in the press I have subsequently sought further advice from a leading tax counsel to review that position and to ensure I am fully compliant with all tax provisions. I have now been advised that although I did not own any other property at the time of the purchase, the application of complex deeming provisions which relate to my son’s trust gives rise to additional stamp duty liabilities. I acknowledge that due to my reliance on advice from lawyers which did not properly take account of these provisions, I did not pay the appropriate stamp duty at the time of the purchase. I am working with expert lawyers and with HMRC to resolve the matter and pay what is due....

....I deeply regret the error that has been made. I am committed to resolving this matter fully and providing the transparency that public service demands. It is for that reason I have today referred myself to the Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards, and will provide him with my fullest cooperation and access to all the information he requires."

Putting on the lawyers. The question isn't so much whether the standards committee clears her as to whether this passes the sniff test in the court of public opinion and to what extent the press pursue the story after the event. Interesting that Starmer was more unequivocal in his support for Rayner than he was Reeves perhaps he's learning, 5 yrs down the line, that a weak defence of your own team is in fact not a good thing.

In Rayners defence, she dobbed herself in to the ethics committee.
Not in Rayners defence, she only did so because questions were being asked, and the vultures were circling.

On the surface, her defence is plausible, she got advice and followed it, but this all hinges on the nature of that advice.
Her status was complicated, more so than most peoples, with a property held in trust. So it seems likely it hinges on who she actually got advice from, and what information she gave them about her property status. For someone in her position, and with a less than usual situation, she needed to get real expert advice from someone who actually knows what they are doing in this area. She also needed to give them full details of her situation for them to make an assessment.

If she did that, and they gave incorrect advice, then perhaps she gets off the hook.
If on the other hand, she got advice from someone less well qualified in this area, then it's really all on her.
Or if she got advice, but didn't fully explain her complicated property situation to them, again it's on her.

It's looking most likely that either she gets away with it, or she resigns, doesn't appear Starmer will boot her.
One possibility if this just won't go away, is she steps down 'gracefully' from Housing Secretary, but continues as deputy leader. That would feed some scraps to the vultures, whilst also brushing it neatly under the carpet.

When the press are circling and smell blood ,your name has to be Houdini to escape there claws.Good luck Angela you will need lots of it.

The identity of Angela Rayner's Tax Adviser has been revealed..

One of the best.

And she’s gone.


Next!

I take it that she's resigned as the deputy leader of the government.
But she'll still be deputy leader of the labour party.

The BBC are reporting she’s resigned as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party as well so an election will be held for that position