Police probe graffiti attack on Angela Rayner’s hove flat amid tax row
Police have launched an investigation after a property tax dispute resulted in Angela Rayner’s seaside home being vandalized.
The deputy Prime Minister has come under scrutiny after she admitted yesterday that she had mistakenly underpaid stamp duty tax on her £800,000 flat in Hove.
The Ashton-under-Lyne MP, who also serves as the Housing Secretary, has faced calls from the opposition to step down.
Today, graffiti appeared on the wall outside Rayner’s Hove flat near Brighton, with the words ‘b****’ and ‘tax evader’ marked on the whitewashed wall.
On the other side of the road, ‘tax evader Rayner’ and ‘Rayner tax avoidance’ were spray-painted on a construction wall.
A Sussex Police spokesperson told Metro: ‘We have been made aware of graffiti outside an address in Hove, on Thursday (4 September).
‘The matter is being treated as criminal damage, and we are proactively making enquiries to gather information about the circumstances.
‘We will be contacting the homeowner to identify and address any further concerns.’
Rayner’s spokesperson said the vandalism is ‘totally unjustifiable and beyond the pale,’ adding that it is now up to the police to take action.
The Prime Minister’s spokesman stated that Sir Keir ‘condemns this vandalism in the strongest possible terms.
‘Whatever scrutiny our parliamentarians may face, it is appalling that their private homes should be targeted in this way,’ he said.
Sir Keir Starmer has not indicated plans to terminate her despite the awkwardness of the issue for a Labour government.
Now the top Labour officials have rallied behind Rayner in the face of intensifying criticism and vandalism.
Kemi Badenoch criticized the Prime Minister over the tax controversy, saying that if he had ‘any backbone’ he would dismiss her.
Her party has contacted HMRC and asked for it to initiate its own investigation into whether Rayner attempted to evade tax. Rayner referred herself to the Prime Minister’s ethics advisor, who supervises ministerial standards, for an investigation.
Reform’s Nigel Farage remarked before appearing in front of the US Congress Judiciary Committee hearing on free speech that he doesn’t ‘see how Angela Rayner can survive this.’
Chancellor Rachel Reeves expressed her ‘full confidence’ in Rayner following the ‘mistake.’
She said: ‘I have full confidence in Angela Rayner. She’s a good friend and colleague; she has acknowledged that the correct stamp duty wasn’t paid.
‘That was an error, that was a mistake. She is working diligently now to rectify that, in contact with HMRC to ensure the correct tax is paid.’
Reeves added that it was ‘incumbent on all of us to try to properly understand the rules.’
No 10 Downing Street reiterated the Prime Minister’s earlier statements on Rayner, stating she retains Sir Keir’s ‘full confidence.’
However, a Downing Street spokesperson refused to guarantee her remaining in the position for the rest of the Parliament.
The spokesperson said: ‘You have the Prime Minister’s words in the House yesterday; he said that she followed the right course of action and expressed his pride in her work as his deputy.’
Bridget Phillipson insisted that Rayner had ‘acted in good faith, sought to act appropriately with the information available to her.’
However, she declined to ‘speculate’ over Rayner’s future and whether she would remain in the role by Christmas.
Lucy Powell, the House of Commons leader, said the Conservatives’ criticism was ‘because she is so bloody good at her job.’
Technology & Business Editor
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