Angela Rayner must face full police probe into council house tax row, ex-ethics chief demands
ANGELA Rayner must face a full police probe into her council house tax row, a former ethics chief has demanded.
The Labour deputy’s position also came under fire from a leading barrister who said a jury would not buy her story.
Questions last night rumbled on over whether Ms Rayner should have paid capital gains tax on the profit from the sale of her Stockport property in 2015.
Neighbours dispute her claims it was her main residence – which would have allowed her to avoid the tax – and say she actually lived with her then husband a mile away.
Greater Manchester Police are considering whether to reopen an investigation following concerns she may have also broken electoral law living away from her registered address.
Sir Alistair Graham, ex-chairman of the committee on standards in public life, last night called for a full inquiry.
He told the Mail: “There clearly should be a full police investigation of the allegations.
“And of course if it’s found she has breached the law then her political position becomes pretty untenable, particularly as she’s continued to deny that she’s breached the law in any way.”
Top lawyer Rebecca Butler added that it was “beyond the bounds of credibility” that she was not living with her husband and father of her kids.
She said: “A jury would take a hell of a lot of convincing.”
Ms Rayner continues to deny wrongdoing and says she received tax and legal advice over the sale of the former council home she had bought under the right-to-buy scheme.
Last week she and Sir Keir Starmer refused growing calls to publish the advice, stressing her right to privacy.