Starmer says ‘of course’ he will act on standards probe into Rayner tax row

Sir Keir Starmer has declined to say if he will sack his deputy, Angela Rayner, should an investigation find she broke the ministerial code after she admitted to underpaying tax on a new property.

The Prime Minister said “of course” he will act on the findings of his independent standards adviser following Ms Rayner’s acknowledgement that she did not pay enough stamp duty on a flat she bought in Hove this year.

But he would not be drawn on whether he would fire his deputy, who is also the Housing Secretary, if Sir Laurie Magnus finds that a breach of ministerial rules took place.

In an interview with the BBC, he said: “There’s a clear procedure. I strengthened that procedure. I am expecting a result pretty quickly.

“I do want it to be comprehensive… and then of course I will act on whatever the report is that’s put in front of me.”

Ms Rayner has been under mounting pressure in recent weeks after reports emerged she had saved £40,000 in stamp duty on a property purchase in Hove by not paying the higher rate reserved for additional home purchases.

She referred herself to independent adviser Sir Laurie and said she made a “mistake” in paying the standard rate, based on legal advice she received at the time.

Sir Keir and his Cabinet have rallied round the Deputy Prime Minister amid opposition calls for her to resign over the error, with the Prime Minister and Chancellor Rachel Reeves both expressing “full confidence” in her.

Downing Street previously refused to say when Sir Keir was first made aware of key details that led his deputy to refer herself for an ethics investigation, but the Prime Minister on Thursday insisted it was only once she received the final legal advice on Wednesday morning.

He was asked on the BBC whether he knew at the time of publicly defending Ms Rayner on Monday that she had sought additional legal advice, which came to the conclusion that she should have paid more tax.

Sir Keir replied: “I knew on Monday that she’d taken advice previously when she did the conveyance, and she was taking further advice, but the actual advice came through on Wednesday morning.”

It comes as sources close to Ms Rayner said she was given three separate pieces of legal advice before buying an £800,000 flat in Hove at the centre of the row.

They said a conveyancer and two experts in trust law had all suggested the amount of stamp duty she paid on the property was correct and she acted on the advice she was given at the time.

The conveyancer Ms Rayner used to buy the Hove flat was revealed on Thursday to be Verrico and Associates, a small high street firm based in Herne Bay, Kent.

On Wednesday, she admitted she had made a “mistake” and said she referred herself to the standards adviser after receiving fresh legal advice that she was liable for the extra duty following headlines about the purchase. It is understood that the probe could report back as early as Friday.

In a public statement, Ms Rayner said a court-instructed trust was established in 2020 following a settlement with the NHS over a “deeply personal and distressing incident” involving her son.

He was left with life-long disabilities and to ensure he continued to have stability in the family home in Greater Manchester, she said her family had agreed its interest in that property would be transferred to the trust.

She said she had put her stake in the constituency home in Ashton-under-Lyne into this trust, which a “leading tax counsel” had later told her made her liable to pay the additional stamp duty on her new Hove flat.

Details about the complex arrangements continued to emerge on Thursday, when the Telegraph reported Ms Rayner had sold her remaining stake to the trust for £162,500, which the paper suggested had then been used to buy her new flat.

No 10 said Ms Rayner retained Sir Keir’s “full confidence” but declined to commit to her staying in post for the rest of this Parliament – an assurance which has previously been given publicly to Ms Reeves and Foreign Secretary David Lammy amid speculation about their positions.

“I’m not going to go through the Cabinet and do that,” a Downing Street spokesperson said on Thursday.

“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.”

Meanwhile, speaking to broadcasters earlier in the morning, Ms Reeves said: “I have full confidence in Angela Rayner. She’s a good friend and a colleague, she has accepted the right stamp duty wasn’t paid.

“That was an error, that was a mistake. She is working hard now to rectify that, in contact with HMRC to make sure that the correct tax is paid.”

The Chancellor added it is “incumbent on all of us to try to properly understand the rules”.

Lucy Powell, the Leader of the House of Commons, told MPs on Thursday the Conservatives were criticising Ms Rayner “because she is so bloody good at her job”.

Speaking at business questions, she added: “Suffice to say, the Deputy Prime Minister is a huge, huge asset to this Government. She’s an incredibly effective minister and she has been delivering.”

Both the Prime Minister and Science Secretary Peter Kyle, who is also MP for Hove, condemned graffiti that was found on Ms Rayner’s seaside flat on Thursday. The words “bitch” and “tax evader” were pictured sprayed on the outside of her home.

No 10 said targeting of politicians’ homes is “appalling” and Mr Kyle said “Hove is better than this” while Ms Rayner’s spokesperson called the vandalism “beyond the pale” and said it is a matter for the police.

The Conservatives have written to HMRC calling for it to launch its own investigation into whether she tried to evade tax, with party chairman Kevin Hollinrake saying her explanation “cannot withstand scrutiny”.

Ms Rayner has said she is “working with expert lawyers and with HMRC to resolve the matter and pay what is due”.

Losing the Deputy Prime Minister would cause a headache for Sir Keir as he seeks to reset Government following a difficult summer dominated by criticism of the small boats crisis and speculation about tax rises in the autumn budget.

Ms Rayner is popular among the Labour grassroots and is said to have played an important role in defusing the backbench revolt over proposed welfare cuts earlier this year.

She is key to his political project, overseeing the manifesto pledge to build 1.5 million new homes as well as the Government’s flagship workers’ rights expansion, and is seen as a bridge between No 10 and the wider party.