Rayner, who is also the housing secretary, has referred herself to independent adviser Sir Laurie Magnus and said she made a “mistake” in paying the standard rate, based on legal advice she received at the time.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer would not be drawn on whether he would sack Rayner if she is found to have broken the ministerial code in an interview on Thursday.
Downing Street has also refused to say when Starmer was first made aware of key details that led his deputy to refer herself for an ethics investigation
However, Chancellor Rachel Reeves gave Rayner her “full confidence” to remain in post, while Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said she had “sought to be transparent” in scandal over her tax affairs.
It comes as sources close to the deputy prime minister said she was given three separate pieces of legal advice before buying the property.
They suggested a conveyancer and two experts in trust law had all suggested that the amount of stamp duty she paid on the property was correct and she acted on the advice she was given at the time.
The conveyancer Rayner used to buy the Hove flat was revealed on Thursday to be Verrico and Associates, a small high street firm based in Herne Bay, Kent.
Meanwhile speaking to broadcasters earlier in the morning, Reeves said: “I have full confidence in Angela Rayner. She’s a good friend and a colleague, she has accepted the right stamp duty wasn’t paid.
“That was an error, that was a mistake. She is working hard now to rectify that, in contact with HMRC to make sure that the correct tax is paid.
“Anyone that saw Angela’s statement yesterday, saw her interview yesterday, I think will have a lot of sympathy with some of the challenging family circumstances around this, around Angela’s disabled son, but of course, it is right that people pay their right amount of tax.”
Дата на публикация: 10 септември, 2025
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