Keir Starmer, the leader of the Labour Party, has defended his deputy, Angela Rayner, amidst allegations from the chief constable of Greater Manchester police. The chief constable stated that Rayner is under investigation for “a number of assertions.”
During a session of Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, April 17 Starmer addressed these accusations directly, labeling the claim that Rayner lied about her primary residence to evade taxes as a “smear.”
While Starmer has generally refrained from commenting on the controversy in recent weeks, he took a proactive approach during the parliamentary session, engaging in exchanges with the Prime Minister that included personal attacks.
Starmer said, “We’ve got a billionaire prime minister and a billionaire peer, both of whose families have used schemes to avoid millions of pounds of tax, smearing a working-class woman.”
Rayner is under scrutiny for potentially violating the Representation of the People Act 1983 by allegedly providing false information to the electoral register regarding her place of residence.
However, any prosecutions regarding this matter must occur within 12 months of the alleged offense.
Additionally, questions arose about whether Rayner paid the correct amount of tax on the 2015 sale of her former council house in Stockport.
The confusion stems from uncertainty over whether the property was her primary residence. These allegations pertain to Rayner’s living arrangements in the initial five years of her marriage, before she was elected an MP in May 2015.
“I’m going to say very little about this because in truth we don’t give running commentaries on live investigations. However, I know that it’s very topical. All I would say is, in line with what we have put out publicly, there are a number of assertions knocking about. I don’t need to tell people that.”
“That is a neutral act. It does not imply that the information gives us any hard and fast sort of evidence upon which to base anything at this stage. It is simply: we have an allegation, these allegations are of course all over the news, and we are going to get to the bottom of what has happened.”
Stephen Watson
Police Probe Surrounding Rayner’s Residence
A Labour spokesperson said, “Angela welcomes the chance to set out the facts with the police. We remain completely confident that Angela has complied with the rules at all times and it’s now appropriate to let the police do its work.”
Sources close to Rayner stated that it remains unclear what specific matters the police force is investigating.
The Conservative MP for Bury North, James Daly, said the police should be allowed to do their work when asked what crime he thought Rayner had committed and for more detail on what information he had provided to the police.
“Greater Manchester police are looking at a number of different offenses and will investigate fully, and we should give them the time and opportunity to do that.”
James Daly
A police source disclosed that officers were looking at Rayner’s council tax arrangements after claiming she was not living at her property. A police source said the inquiry was “well-resourced”, with at least a dozen detectives, and that officers were investigating more than “a single issue”.
A spokesperson for Greater Manchester police said on Wednesday: “Investigations are ongoing and we won’t be commenting further until they have been completed.”
On Friday, April 12, Rayner pledged to step down as deputy leader of the Labour Party if a police investigation found she had committed a crime.
She said that integrity and accountability are important in politics. That’s why the issue must be addressed independently and without political interference.
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