Angela Rayner under pressure to publish tax advice after police drop council house probe

Labour has come under renewed pressure to publish the advice it received about Angela Rayner's tax affairs after police dropped their probe into the party's Deputy Leader.

Ms Rayner had faced claims she might have broken electoral law and dodged capital gains tax and council tax because of the way she and her then husband used separate homes.

But Greater Manchester Police (GMP) and Stockport Council both confirmed they would take no further action against the Ashton-under-Lyne MP.

And GMP said the details of the case had been passed on to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

GMP said: “Matters involving council tax and personal tax do not fall into the jurisdiction of policing. GMP has liaised with Stockport Council and information about our investigation has been shared with them. Details of our investigation have also been shared with His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC).”

Ms Rayner has hit out at the Conservative Party for referring the case to the police.

But a Tory source said: “Angela Rayner can clear things up by publishing the advice she claims to have received. She has not told the truth about this in the past, so why would anyone believe what she says now?”

And a Conservative Party spokesman said: “Greater Manchester Police have said they’ve passed the findings of their investigation into Angela Rayner to HMRC who do not comment on their tax probes.

“As the tax expert and Labour Party member Dan Neidle has said, Rayner still hasn't provided an explanation. Sir Keir Starmer could easily clear this up by simply reading and then publishing the tax advice Labour claims will exonerate his under-fire deputy.”

The police investigation was triggered by a complaint from Tory deputy chairman James Daly.

Ms Rayner said: "I welcome the conclusion of the police investigation, and confirmation that no further action will be taken.

"We have seen the Conservative Party use this playbook before - reporting political opponents to the police during election campaigns to distract from their dire record.

"The public have had enough of these desperate tactics from a Tory government with nothing else to say after 14 years of failure.

"I am grateful to all those who have stood by and supported me and my family.

"My focus now is squarely on securing the change Britain needs, with the election of a Labour government."

Sir Keir said Ms Rayner "has been vindicated".

"I never doubted that Angela hadn't done anything wrong and now she's been cleared by the police," he told reporters on the General Election campaign trail.

The police said matters involving tax did not fall within their jurisdiction but they had shared information with Stockport Council and HMRC.

Stockport Council said it had reviewed the information and also concluded that no further action will be taken.

Questions about Ms Rayner's living arrangements surfaced after suggestions in a book by former Tory deputy chairman Lord Ashcroft that she failed to properly declare her main home.

The unauthorised biography alleges that the MP for Ashton-under-Lyne bought her former council house, in Vicarage Road in Stockport, in 2007, under the Right to Buy scheme.

Her then husband was listed at another address in Lowndes Lane, about a mile away, which had also been bought under the Right to Buy scheme.

In the same year as her wedding, Ms Rayner is said to have re-registered the births of her two youngest children, giving her address as where her husband resided.

Ms Rayner has said that Vicarage Road was her "principal property" despite her husband living elsewhere at the time.

In 2015, Ms Rayner sold the property, making a £48,500 profit.

Couples can normally only count one property as their main home for capital gains tax purposes, prompting questions over whether she should have paid it.

Mr Daly is thought to have alleged she may have made a false declaration about where she was living on the electoral register.