The Tory chairman Kevin Hollinrake has said that Angela Rayner “has got to step down” after she admitted only paying £30,000 stamp duty instead of £70,000.
Hollinrake told GB News that Rayner’s position is now untenable, “she’s got to step down” from her roles as the Deputy Prime Minister and the Housing Secretary.
He said that Rayner is responsible for housing and taxation policies, “She’s got to step down. She’s Housing Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister.”
The chairman pointed out that regulations on second home stamp duty is easily accessible which is also on the “first page of the HMRC website.”
Hollinrake said, “It’s not as if these rules on paying second home stamp duty are obscure. They’re on the first page of the HMRC website when it talks about stamp duty.”
He added, “Particularly given Angela Rayner and Keir Starmer have taken the moral high ground on this. I don’t see how she can realistically stay in post.”
The Deputy Prime Minister said she has been “in shock” and is “devastated” over the fallout and she referred herself to the independent adviser on ministerial standards.
Rayner said she was given inaccurate tax advise and she spoke to her family about quitting as the Deputy Prime Minister.
Rayner told Sky News on Wednesday, “I’ve been in shock, really, because I thought I’d done everything properly, and I relied on the advice that I received, and I’m devastated because I’ve always upheld the rules and always have felt proud to do that.
“That it is devastating for me and the fact that the reason why those confidential clauses were in place was to protect my son, who, through no fault of his own, he’s vulnerable, he’s got this life changing, lifelong conditions and I don’t want him or anything to do with his day-to-day life, to be subjected to that level of scrutiny.”
Rayner was asked if she had considered quitting, she said, “I spoke to my family about it. I spoke to my ex-husband, who has been an incredibly supportive person because he knows that all I’ve done is try and support my family and help them.
She continued, “It’s been quite a distressing time for my family. I have a court order that was in place around confidentiality regarding my son, my family and my divorce proceedings that happened in 2023.
And therefore, I wasn’t able to give a full account of the circumstances of our complex living arrangements. That order was lifted last night. I applied to have the order lifted so that I could give people the information.”
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