Rayner has right to spend money as she chooses, says Phillipson in row over flat

A Cabinet minister has said it is up to Angela Rayner how she spends her money as criticism continued over her purchase of an £800,000 flat in Hove.

The Deputy Prime Minister represents a constituency in Greater Manchester and has a grace and favour flat in Westminster.

The Tories have called for her to face an ethics inquiry over the tax affairs relating to the purchase.

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Rules and requirements 

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “Angela Rayner has been clear that she followed all the rules and requirements of her, that she has followed the rules completely.

“That is her position, that she has done everything that has been asked of her.”

Asked whether there is anything hypocritical about the Deputy Prime Minister’s actions, Ms Phillipson told Times Radio: “If an individual wants to buy a property, whether that individual is Angela Rayner or anybody else, they are entirely within their rights to spend their money as they choose.

“I’ve never gone in for that way of approaching things, that somehow people shouldn’t have that kind of choice. My politics is actually about people having more choices over what they do with their own money and their own lives and Angela Rayner, as an adult with a salary, is able to make choices about how she spends her own money.

“She’s an adult, if she wants to buy a flat she can buy a flat. That’s just the top and bottom of it.

“So long as she’s followed all of the rules and requirements as a part of that, then I don’t think there’s anything more.”

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Stamp duty

Ms Rayner, who is also the Housing Secretary, is reported to have saved £40,000 in stamp duty on the flat because she removed her name from the deed to a family property in her Ashton-under-Lyne constituency, meaning the Hove property is the only property she owns.

However, Ms Rayner also previously indicated the Greater Manchester home remains her primary residence, according to the Telegraph, saving some £2,000 in council tax on her grace and favour home in central London at Admiralty House.

The Mail On Sunday reported she split the ownership of her £650,000 constituency home with a trust administered by law firm Shoosmiths.

The newspaper suggested the legal manoeuvre would be consistent with Ms Rayner placing some of the house’s equity in trust for her three children, but the Tories questioned whether the move was intended to avoid potential inheritance tax liabilities.

Ms Rayner divorced her husband and no longer owns a stake in the Greater Manchester home but still considers it her primary residence because her children live there.

Ethics

The Tories have called for the Prime Minister’s ethics adviser Sir Laurie Magnus to examine whether she has breached the ministerial code.

Tory Party chairman Kevin Hollinrake said Ms Rayner should “come clean on the litany of accusations of tax avoidance – be it stamp duty, council tax or inheritance tax”.

He had originally called for Sir Laurie to investigate after it was reported Ms Rayner paid £30,000 instead of £70,000 on the Hove property because it was the only one she owned, but he said the Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards should also look at the Ashton-under-Lyne trust.

Mr Hollinrake told the Mail On Sunday: “What implications does putting her Ashton-under-Lyne house into a trust have for inheritance tax?

“Tax avoidance may be entirely lawful – and many families will rightly want to minimise their inheritance tax to hand over as much as possible to their children and grandchildren, especially in the face of Labour’s cruel family farms and family business taxes.

“But it’s the height of hypocrisy for a Labour politician who wants to hike property taxes for everyone else, and lectured others on tax avoidance, to appear to be doing the very same.”