Shoppers in Angela Rayner's Ashton-under-Lyne constituency have overwhelmingly called for her resignation after she admitted to mistakenly paying the wrong amount of stamp duty on a property purchase. The deputy prime minister and housing minister bought an £800,000 flat in Hove in May, paying the standard rate of about £30,000 instead of the higher second-home rate, which could have been up to £70,000.
Rayner said she had relied on legal advice that she no longer owned her Greater Manchester home after putting her stake into a trust for her children. However, after further legal advice, she acknowledged she still had an interest in the property and should have paid the higher tax. Constituents expressed anger, with many saying she should resign from her ministerial roles and her parliamentary seat.
Andrew Davies, 57, a site leader, said: 'I pay a lot more taxes than a lot of people. I think she should resign as housing minister and maybe even consider deputy as well.' Liz Carroll, 40, a Labour voter at the last election, said: 'She's a disgrace. It's £40,000 tax evasion and her trying to say she knew nothing about it, when she's the housing minister? Come on.'
In Hove, graffiti appeared outside Rayner's flat, with 'tax evader' and 'bitch' sprayed on walls. A spokesperson for Rayner called the vandalism 'unjustifiable and beyond the pale'. Meanwhile, in Ashton-under-Lyne, which has high deprivation levels, residents found the £40,000 sum staggering. Maureen Mills, 76, said: 'When you think about people struggling, it's just awful.'
Some constituents also criticised Prime Minister Keir Starmer for backing Rayner. Adam Barratt, 49, said: 'He's the boss, he sets the rules, he should go 'you're sacked', but he won't will he?' Brian Kays, 64, a Labour supporter, said Rayner's future should depend on the outcome of an investigation by the prime minister's standards adviser.
