GB News star Andrew Pierce has added his voice to the growing number of calls for Angela Rayner to speak out about her tax affairs.
The Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Minister has been accused of swerving £40,000 in stamp duty when buying a flat in Hove, East Sussex, after telling tax authorities it was her main home.
The GB News star did not hold back in his scathing criticism of the Deputy Prime Minister
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“It reeks of hypocrisy because she has been a great enemy of tax avoidance,” he said.
“Why doesn’t she clear it up and tell us what has really gone on? That’s the easy solution.”
Andrew’s co-host Miriam Cates was more diplomatic in her take on the topic, saying there might be some politics going on behind the scenes.
“It all seems very unclear. You don’t have to live in your constituency. She’s going through a divorce,” she said.
Andrew and Miriam had a slight disagreement about how Angela Rayner is treated
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GB NEWS
“There’s no suggestion she’s broken the law, but it really doesn’t look good. Don’t you think there might be some politics going on here?”
“Keir Starmer is in trouble. He’s got terrible poll ratings and some in Labour do not think he will last the whole parliament. There are people in the Labour Party who are desperate it won’t be Angela Rayner taking power.
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“How on earth did it get into the public domain how much stamp duty she has paid?”
Andrew has little sympathy for the Deputy Prime Minister, who many have tipped as a potential successor to Sir Keir.
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“The idea of ‘people are jealous because she’s working class’, rubbish. If I had a pound for every time a minister said, ‘everything was done within the law,’ I’d be rich. They even said this about the freebie row.
“The row damaged them and, of course, Sir Keir Starmer handed money back, even though it was in the rules.
“Everything Angela Rayner has done is in the rules, but if she has avoided £40,000 in stamp duty, that stinks of hypocrisy.”
Miriam argued that Ms Rayner is often the target of media ire thanks to her working-class roots, pointing to an instance where she was plastered across front pages for partying in Ibiza.
Andrew disagreed, saying the increased scrutiny Ms Rayner is subjected to is because of her position as Deputy Prime Minister.
Conservative MPs have requested that Sir Laurie Magnus, who serves as the Prime Minister’s independent adviser on ministerial standards, examine Angela Rayner’s financial arrangements.
The opposition has levelled accusations of “hypocritical tax avoidance by a minister who supports higher taxes on family homes, high-value homes and second homes” against the Housing Minister.
The three-bedroom flat in East Sussex has sparked intense debate about the Deputy Prime Minister’s property dealings.
Documents obtained from the Land Registry show that Rayner secured a £650,000 mortgage from NatWest for the purchase, whilst providing a £150,000 deposit herself.
The property transaction has drawn additional attention after reports emerged that Ms Rayner had engaged a firm that focuses on “wealth protection” services.
Further complications arose when questions were raised about her partner’s connections to a company whose previous client had obtained Government funding from Labour.
Ms Rayner’s defenders have accused detractors of “snobbery,” saying her living arrangements are not dissimilar to many Government ministers.
Keeping a taxpayer-funded London residence is not rare for MPs, and the flat she uses in Admiralty House in Whitehall has been used by numerous Deputy PMs before her.
Labour Councillor Sebastian Salek said the debate is shrouded in misogyny when he came to verbal blows with GB News host Nana Akua over the matter.