Angela Rayner’s lawyers: We never gave her tax advice

41 comments

1. All we are asking is that she is held to the same standards she has consistently called for others to be held to.

2. She is a massive hypocrite and no better than a tory if she doesn’t resign.

3. Trust in politics is disintegrating rapidly. Every single day, more news like this appears. I’m afraid the country is governed by lacklustre and mediocre scoundrels, idiots and technocrats. Starmer needs to be replaced by Andy Burnham. He’s the last hope Labour have right now. If he fails, then I see trust in UK politics fully evaporating. Won’t be good for anyone.

4. Not looking good for her is it? Any sign of half truths from her and she will have to be shown the door

5. Telegraph talking about tax dodgers? Makes a change, usually propping em up.

6. I guess if you’re going to try to throw a business under the bus and potentially ruin that business to save your own career, you really have to make sure you’re 100% sure it was them that gave you bad advice before accusing them on TV.

   If that business and reputation suffer now, legal action from them could be another thing Rayner has to look forward to.

7. Trust in politicians is really damaged by stuff like this.

   We should have more “I don’t believe that I am in the wrong, but to avoid even the illusion of unfairness, I resign, apologise and will pay back the money”

   And less “I did nothing wrong and I refuse to give up my position to a point past where it’s so embarrassing that it’s ridiculous, and still keep a straight face”

8. The lawyers can only provide advice/ services on information given. As a dermatologist, if someone didn’t mention pertinent facts about a skin rash (eg bathing in bleach daily) my diagnosis and treatment plan may not be correct. Professionals can only do their best job if the client does their best job/tells the full facts.

9. I’m confused. It says they never gave her tax advice, yet it also says they calculated how much stamp duty she owed and presumably told her that amount.

10. So scapegoating third parties didn’t work, how long before it becomes painfully obvious she simply wanted to avoid paying the right amount lol

11. Anyone with half a brain knows that a trust doesn’t relinquish you of tax duties. Its still an asset you own, trust or no trust.

    She has to go. What a fucking hypocrite

12. Passing authoritarian laws and MPs breaking rules? Close enough, welcome back 2019 Conservative Party.

13. If I were her lawyers I would probably say the same, even if it isn’t true. Verbal advice is hard to prove.

14. God i can’t wait for this entire government to just implode

    Shafting absolutely everyone i care about

    They have the cheek to go after farmers over inheritance tax and the deputy prime minister pulls this lol

15. We never gave her advice, but we did tell her what the online calculator said…

    “The stamp duty for the Hove flat was calculated using HMRC’s own online calculator, based on the figures and the information provided by Ms Rayner. That’s what we used, and it told us we had to pay £30,000 based on the information provided to us.”

16. Oh dear. Her scapegoat won’t sit and take it lying down.

    Sounds like you’ve been caught Tax Evader Rayner

17. what is the probability three professionals gave her wrong advice? This is what these people do day to day and with her status they would be even more careful. What I think is she misled them and she only got advice based on the information she gave.

18. Where are all those who were leaping to her defence yesterday then?

19. I think she likely knew (or thought she knew) there was a possible loophole and she took advantage of it, to try and save the £40k. There’s not many other possibilities. Let’s be real here, she knew what was going on tax-wise, Maybe some friends told her about this loophole, or her boyfriend, but there is no chance this was “overlooked” or a mistake. She was trying to avoid paying the 40 grand. If she denies it she must think we are all idiots.

20. She needs to go, so does Reeves, starmer needs to grow a spine and help British people.

21. Like her or not she needs to resign for integrity’s sake. The common folk don’t get away with it and she should be ultra-careful with this. It’s a dereliction of duty and a smear on her party and government.

22. I voting Reform but Rayner was one of few in Labour I felt had talent. I so disappointed. I think she should resign then possibly come back if Starmer resigns before next election

23. Right, so they passed the task onto tax expert partners. The headline makes it sound like they did nothing, and Rayner arranged all of her own tax.

    This adds nothing new to the story.

24. Whether Labour like or not Politics is all about optics today.

    They spent years pointing the finger at the Tories and rightly so, however this comes with a price and that price is knowing the second they fuck up the Tories along with all mates in the media would come down on them like a ton of bricks.

    Now considering they have gone after the anybody out of work basically accusing them of been work shy lazy benefits cheats it made even more important for them to be as innocent as the Virgin Mary.

    The very second there was any suspicious of wrong doing Starmer needed relive her of her position.

    However Starmer is has no balls to speak off so here we are…

25. It only accounts for 8 seconds of NHS spending but it’s the principle of it all, she needs to resign or make a donation to the exchequer, neither will happen most likely 

26. This is a comment that will blow the minds of Tory voters. I voted labour, and I fully support holding our politicians accountable. Investigate her.

    I know, this is mind blowing that it’s possible to not just blindly side with your parties politicians right?

27. It’s fairly standard for conveyancing solicitors to explicitly state they are not tax advisors. It’s not even buried in the small print, they usually state it prominently when you first engage them.

28. Seems inevitable that she’ll have to resign. And sell her flat given resigning means halving her salary.

29. I think Rayner (and anyone else in the same position) should simply make available the advice she received and say she’ll pay back the tax owed if she was badly advised.

    Though it’s interesting that certain quarters that are happy to generally imply she’s an illiterate pleb now expect she’d know more about complicated property tax arrangements than the professionals she paid to advise her.

30. If this simpleton wasn’t an mp she would be painting flags on roundabouts. Proper !!

31. I’m no fan of her or labour, but this is nonsense. The article is full of weasel words and quotes intentionally taken out of context.

    Most of the labour front bench should be fired for incompetence. Rayner seems to have made a mess of the simple act of buying a house. But there is zero evidence of intent here, and she realised her mistake and reported herself to hmrc. Which is what an honest (if stupid) person should do.

32. It is quite comical to discover that these people who branded themselves as the post-Tory return to civility are, it turns out, just a bunch of morally sketchy, unimpressive, slippery pillocks

33. Chat GPT prompt:

    “Can I avoid paying stamp duty when buying a second home of if I put my first home in my under 18 sons name via a trust?”

    The response:

    > HMRC’s manual (SDLTM09800+) makes clear:
    > The surcharge applies if you, your spouse/civil partner, or a minor child own another dwelling at completion.
    > So even if you “gift” the first home to your under-18 via trust, it’s still counted as being owned within your “family unit.”
    > Result: You’d still pay the 3% additional property surcharge.

    If Chat GPT can figure it out – any lawyer could. She is full of sh*t.

34. I’m no fan of Rayner and even less of a fan of Labour politicians who take advantage of taxpayers, but it’s not a straightforward situation. What with the divorce, the disabled kid having a house in trust, and the decision to have the kids live in one house and the parents rotate in and out, I can see how a reasonable person could get into trouble.

35. I’m not surprised because *shock horror* lawyers are not tax specialists. And considering conveyancers are only around to make estate agents look good, I doubt Angela Rayner was asking them for tax advice

36. Pretty shit lawyers. What is their actual job then?

37. Sorry, why are the lawyers advertising that they didn’t do a good job? What kind of lawyer doesn’t worry about about the stamp duty on the sale of land? Just asking.

    (I think “Just Asking” might be trademarked by someone already, not sure)

38. Anyone buying a house would check how much stamp duty they are likely to pay when buying a house, just to get a rough estimate, there are many online calculators.

    The other question is where did she get the £800k to buy another house?

39. If Rayner really did receive this advice, it would surely be in written form. All she has to do is literally show the documents. Surely she knows who it was that gave her the advice that says 40k?

40. Appalling but not surprising that a conveyancing solicitor gave no legal advice when buying house. I have found them useless when moving house.

    I hope Angela survives this. (And I’ve never voted Labour )

    Kemi B shows tories have reverted to the nasty party, no empathy or understanding

41. Nadhim Zahawi tried to avoid £5m in tax, he rightly resigned. Angela should not resign over what seems to be a mistake and she is now going to pay the 40k

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