Rayner

Sept. 5 (UPI) — British Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner announced Friday she will resign following a scandal over her underpayment of taxes on her home.

“Given the findings, and the impact on my family, I have therefore decided to resign as Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, as well as Deputy Leader of the Labor Party,” Rayner said in a press release.

“I have long believed that people who serve the British public in government must always observe the highest standards, and while the Independent Adviser has concluded that I acted in good faith and with honesty and integrity throughout, I accept that I did not meet the highest standards in relation to my recent property purchase,” she added.

Rayner had stated Wednesday that she referred herself to Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards, Sir Laurie Magnus, in order to reach a determination on her realization that she paid an incorrect rate for Stamp Duty Land Tax on a home she purchased in May.

According to Raynor, she paid for her new home with a combination of a mortgage and money acquired from selling her stake in the residence she maintained with her former husband and their kids.

She alleges that she was given bad advice from her lawyers in regard to how much tax, or stamp duty she owed.

“I deeply regret my decision to not seek additional specialist tax advice given both my position as Housing Secretary and my complex family arrangements,” Rayner said.

“I take full responsibility for this error,” she added. “I would like to take this opportunity to repeat that it was never my intention to do anything other than pay the right amount.”

Magnus issued a judgement Friday in which did note that “I believe Ms. Rayner has acted with integrity and with a dedicated and exemplary commitment to public service.”

“I consider, however, that her unfortunate failure to settle her SDLT liability at the correct level, coupled with the fact that this was established only following intensive public scrutiny, leads me to advise you that, in relation to this matter, she cannot be considered to have met the ‘highest possible standards of proper conduct’ as envisaged by the [Ministerial Code],” he added.

The Ministerial Code are the standards all ministers are expected to uphold.

“Accordingly, it is with deep regret that I must advise you that in these circumstances, I consider the Code to have been breached,” he concluded.

She also said she had resigned because of media pressure on her family.

“While I rightly expect proper scrutiny on me and my life, my family did not choose to have their private lives interrogated and exposed so publicly. I have been clear throughout this process that my priority has, and always will be, protecting my children and the strain I am putting them under through staying in post has become unbearable,” Rayner explained.

“Thank you for informing me of your decision to resign from the Government,” wrote Prime Minister and leader of the Labor Party Keir Starmer in a handwritten letter. “I am very sad that your time as Deputy Prime Minister, Secretary of State and Deputy Leader of the Labor Party has ended in this way.”

She also received praise from Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero and former Labor Party leader Ed Miliband, who called her “one of the great British political figures of our time” in an X post Friday.

“I know she will continue to stand at the front of the fight for social justice in this country,” he added.

However, other British political parties criticized Rayner and Starmer.

“What did Keir Starmer know, and when?” asked Conservative Party leader and Member of Parliament, or MP Kemi Badenoch in a video clip posted online. “Did he mislead the public?”

“He has now lost a Deputy Prime Minister after losing a Transport Secretary, an Anti-Corruption minister and a Homelessness minister to scandal,” she continued, noting other members of Starmer’s administration who have resigned over varied reasons.

“You can’t be Housing Secretary, and avoid [$53,731] of stamp duty,” said Reform UK leader MP Nigel Farage in an online video. “Angela Rayner is gone.”

CUTTING Angela Rayner loose will not end the trouble she has caused Sir Keir Starmer – in fact it could get a whole lot worse.

Millions of appalled voters will rightly expect her to scurry sheepishly off into the deep freeze along with any future ambitions.

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But to her legions of militant supporters, she is far from a busted flush – she is a martyr, and soon quite possibly their Red Queen over the water.

It is no secret Rayner is far to the left of Starmer, and that theirs has always been a tricky forced political marriage.

Remember when Sir Keir tried to clip her wings in 2021 only to end up giving her a promotion after she kicked off big time?

Now outside the Cabinet tent – and with no real sense of loyalty to the PM – she could turn from his right-hand woman into a right old headache.

Many in the Labour tribe are already furious with Starmer for turning his back on the left-wing causes he once championed.

From welfare, to taxes, to migration, there is no shortage of issues on which soft-left MPs are ready to scrap with No10.

As the PM tries to stem the bleeding to Reform with more hardline policies, those rows will only intensify.

Especially given Jeremy Corbyn’s new rabble and the Greens threaten to sap voters from Labour’s leftward flank.

In this looming battle for the soul of the party, it is easy to see Rayner emerging as the socialists’ standard bearer.

With the might of the unions and members also on her side, Rayner could quickly accumulate a large powerbase.

Maybe one even big enough to mobilise against her old boss.

Think of the grief Boris Johnson or Nigel Lawson caused Theresa May and Margaret Thatcher from the backbenches, leading to their downfalls.

Starmer had no choice but to push Rayner out.

Her fate was set as soon as Sir Laurie Magnus threw the book at her for breaking the ministerial code.

In this looming battle for the soul of the party, it is easy to see Rayner emerging as the socialists’ standard bearer

His gushing, personal, hand-written goodbye note is as clear a sign as any that he wanted to give her the heave-ho in as gentle a way as possible.

But it might not stay friendly for long.

Sept. 3 (UPI) — British Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said Wednesday she mistakenly underpaid taxes on a home purchase by a mark of over a million dollars.

“I am committed to resolving this matter fully and providing the transparency that public service demands,” Rayner said in a press statement.

“It is for that reason I have today referred myself to the independent adviser on ministerial Standards, and will provide him with my fullest cooperation and access to all the information he requires.”

The independent adviser on ministerial standards is a nonpartisan position intended to advise the British prime minister in regard to the conduct expected of governmental ministers.

Raynor said she shorted the stamp duty on a property she purchased in May by around $1.08 million but alleged it was due to a misunderstanding.

According to Raynor, following her 2023 divorce, she maintained a residence with her ex to continue co-parenting their children, but that home was willed to one of their children, who due to having special needs, was named the eventual sole beneficiary of that house, which was placed in a trust for that child.

Raynor said some of the accrued interest on that home was transferred into the trust, and then sold her remaining stake in the residence.

She asserted that she still lives there, but bought another home in May, and used the lump sum received from selling the stake of her original home into the new property, in addition to using a mortgage to finance the rest of what was owed.

“When purchasing the property my understanding, on advice from lawyers, was that my circumstances meant I was liable for the standard rate of stamp duty,” Raynor said in her statement.

“However, given the recent allegations in the press I have subsequently sought further advice from a leading tax counsel to review that position and to ensure I am fully compliant with all tax provisions,” she continued.

Raynor further stated she has since been advised that “although I did not own any other property at the time of the purchase, the application of complex deeming provisions which relate to my son’s trust gives rise to additional stamp duty liabilities.”

“I acknowledge that due to my reliance on advice from lawyers which did not properly take account of these provisions, I did not pay the appropriate stamp duty at the time of the purchase,” she admitted. “I am working with expert lawyers and with [His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs] to resolve the matter and pay what is due.”

Prime Minister Keir Starmer appeared alongside fellow Labor Party member Raynor on Wednesday in Parliament and said he is “proud to sit alongside Rayner,” but political opponents from the Conservative Party have gone on the attack.

“It’s utterly extraordinary that while working families and businesses are being hammered by Labor’s tax hikes, Angela Rayner has failed to pay the right amount of stamp duty,” posted Member of Parliament, or MP Mel Stride to X Wednesday. “The Deputy Prime Minister should not be setting the rules when she fails to keep them herself.”

“The property tax-dodging free-loading Deputy Prime Minister has finally admitted breaking the law and evading paying taxes owed,” said MP Priti Patel in a social media post Wednesday. “She says that she’s sorry, but she’s only sorry that she was caught out.”

“If Keir Starmer had a backbone, he’d sack Angela Rayner immediately,” posted Conservative Party leader and MP Kemi Badenoch to X Wednesday. “She has to go.”

Angela Rayner has given China two weeks to explain why parts of its plans for a new mega-embassy in London are redacted.

The deputy prime minister’s Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government sent a letter asking for further information and requested a response by 20 August, the BBC understands.

Beijing’s plans for the new embassy have sparked fears its location – very near London’s financial district – could pose an espionage risk. Residents nearby also fear it would pose a security risk to them and attract large protests.

The BBC has contacted the Chinese embassy in London for comment.

A final planning decision on the controversial plans will be made by 9 September, the BBC understands.

In a letter seen by the PA news agency, Rayner, who as housing secretary is responsible for overseeing planning matters, asks planning consultants representing the Chinese embassy to explain why drawings of the planned site are blacked out.

The Home Office and the Foreign Office also received copies of the letter.

It notes that the Home Office requested a new “hard perimeter” be placed around the embassy site, to prevent “unregulated public access”, and says this could require a further planning application.

There are concerns, held by some opponents, that the Royal Mint Court site could allow China to infiltrate the UK’s financial system by tapping into fibre optic cables carrying sensitive data for firms in the City of London.

Pro-democracy campaigners from Hong Kong also fear Beijing could use the huge embassy to harass political opponents and even detain them. Last month, the UK condemned cash offers from Hong Kong authorities for people who help in the arrest of pro-democracy activists living in Britain.

Alicia Kearns, the shadow national security minister, said: “No surprises here – Labour’s rush to appease Xi Jinping’s demands for a new embassy demonstrated a complacency when it came to keeping our people safe. Having deluded themselves for so long, they’ve recognised we were right to be vigilant.”

Responding to security concerns earlier this week, the Chinese embassy told the BBC it was “committed to promoting understanding and the friendship between the Chinese and British peoples and the development of mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries. Building the new embassy would help us better perform such responsibilities”.

China bought the old Royal Mint Court for £255m in 2018. At 20,000 square metres, the complex will be the biggest embassy in Europe if it goes ahead.

The plan involves a cultural centre and housing for 200 staff, but in the basement, behind security doors, there are also rooms with no identified use on the plans.

Beijing’s application for the embassy had previously been rejected by Tower Hamlets Council in 2022 over safety and security concerns.

It resubmitted an identical application in August 2024, one month after Labour came to power.

On 23 August, Sir Keir Starmer phoned Chinese President Xi Jinping for their first talks. Sir Keir confirmed afterwards that Xi had raised the embassy issue.

Rayner has since exercised her power to take the matter out of the council’s hands amid attempts by the government to engage with China after a cooling of relations during the final years of Conservative Party rule.

Senior ministers have signalled they are in favour if minor adjustments are made to the plan.