Angela Rayner will not publish ‘personal tax advice’ over council house sale – unless Tories do the same

Published

1 year ago

March 28, 2024

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Angela Rayner has said she will not publish the “personal tax advice” she received on the sale of her council house despite a police development over her living arrangements.

Labour’s deputy leader told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme she was “confident” she had done “absolutely nothing wrong” with regards to the sale of her council house and whether she should have paid capital gains tax on it.

Ms Rayner said she had been “very clear on my advice that I’ve received” – but asked why she would not put that legal advice into the public domain, she said: “Because that’s my personal tax advice. But I’m happy to comply with the necessary authorities that want to see that.”

Sir Keir Starmer later threw his support behind his deputy at the launch of Labour’s local election campaign in Dudley, telling the audience that she had not broken any rules and was right not to publish the legal advice.

Asked if his deputy should resign if found to have done wrong, Sir Keir said: “Angela has answered I don’t know how many questions about this. She has not broken any rules, she has in fact taken legal and tax advice which has satisfied her, and us, and me about the position.”

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Although Ms Rayner has resisted putting her tax advice in the public domain, she has committed to hand over the information to the police and HMRC – something Sir Keir agreed with.

When pressed further on why she would not publish the advice – and whether she would accept the same reasoning from a Conservative politician – Ms Rayner suggested she would be willing to do if her Tory critics did the same.

“If we’re all going to have a level playing field and we suddenly decide that Conservative ministers need to hand over their tax affairs, if you show me yours, then I’ll show you mine,” she said.

The Labour leader made comparisons with Ms Rayner’s situation to “beergate”, when he and Ms Rayner were investigated, and later cleared, over allegations of breaching COVID lockdown rules ahead of the Hartlepool by-election in May 2021.

And he said: “Where does this end? Are you going to be calling for Tory ministers to publish their legal and tax advice going back over the last 15 years? That is where this ends.”

The defence of Ms Rayner came after Greater Manchester Police confirmed it was “reassessing” its initial decision not to investigate allegations made about her living arrangements after receiving a complaint.

The Labour MP has come under the spotlight in recent weeks over the sale of an ex-council house she previously owned in Stockport, having been accused of avoiding capital gains tax – something she has denied.

But she has also faced scrutiny over claims that in 2010, she may have lived primarily at her then husband’s address, despite registering to vote under her own – which could be a breach of electoral rules.

Ms Rayner has said she paid bills and council tax and was registered to vote at the home she brought through Margaret Thatcher’s “right-to-buy” scheme. If it was her primary address, as she has claimed, she would not have had to pay capital gains tax on it when she sold it in 2015 for £127,500 – making a £48,500 profit

However, there have been claims that despite registering at Vicarage Road, she was primarily living at Lowndes Lane, Mr Rayner’s address.

Greater Manchester Police looked into the claims and initially said there was no evidence of an offence being committed.

However, James Daly, the Tory MP for Bury North who filed the original complaint about Ms Rayner, followed up with the force and said they had failed to properly investigate the allegations – prompting them to reassess their initial decision.

In a fresh statement released on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the force said: “We have received a complaint regarding our decision not to investigate an allegation and are in the process of reassessing this decision.

“The complainant will be updated with the outcome of the reassessment in due course.”

The claims first surfaced in a book about Ms Rayner by former Conservative Party deputy chairman and Tory donor Lord Ashcroft, which has been serialised in the Mail On Sunday.

Politics

US CLARITY bill could allow Tesla and Meta to evade SEC rules — Senator Warren

Published

2 hours ago

July 9, 2025

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US CLARITY bill could allow Tesla and Meta to evade SEC rules — Senator Warren

The legislation to establish crypto market structure is one of three bills the US House of Representatives is expected to consider starting next week.

Politics

What is a wealth tax, how would it work in the UK and where else has one?

Published

4 hours ago

July 9, 2025

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What is a wealth tax, how would it work in the UK and where else has one?

The idea of a wealth tax has raised its head – yet again – as the government attempts to balance its books.

Downing Street refused to rule out a wealth tax after former Labour leader Lord Kinnock told Sky News he thinks the government should introduce one.

Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesman said: “The prime minister has repeatedly said those with the broadest shoulders should carry the largest burden.”

While there has never been a wealth tax in the UK, the notion was raised under Rishi Sunak after the COVID years – and rejected – and both Harold Wilson’s and James Callaghan’s Labour governments in the 1970s seriously considered implementing one.

Sky News looks at what a wealth tax is, how it could work in the UK, and which countries already have one.

What is a wealth tax?

A wealth tax is aimed at reducing economic inequality to redistribute wealth and to raise revenue.

It is a direct levy on all, or most of, an individual’s, household’s or business’s total net wealth, rather than their income.

The tax typically includes the total market value of assets, including savings, investments, property and other forms of wealth – minus a person’s debts.

Unlike capital gains tax, which is paid when an asset is sold at a profit, a wealth tax is normally an annual charge based on the value of assets owned, even if they are not sold.

A one-off wealth tax, often used after major crises, could also be an option to raise a substantial amount of revenue in one go.

How could it work in the UK?

Advocates of a UK wealth tax, including Lord Kinnock, have proposed an annual 2% tax on wealth above £10m.

Wealth tax campaign group Tax Justice UK has calculated this would affect about 20,000 people – fewer than 0.04% of the population – and raise £24bn a year.

Because of how few people would pay it, Tax Justice says that would make it easy for HMRC to collect the tax.

The group proposes people self-declare asset values, backed up by a compliance team at HMRC who could have a register of assets.

Which countries have or have had a wealth tax?

In 1990, 12 OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries had a net wealth tax, but just four have one now: Colombia, Norway, Spain and Switzerland.

France and Italy levy wealth taxes on selected assets.

Colombia

Since 2023, residents in the South American country are subject to tax on their worldwide wealth, but can exclude the value of their household up to 509m pesos (£92,500).

The tax is progressive, ranging from a 0.5% rate to 1.5% for the most wealthy until next year, then 1% for the wealthiest from 2027.

Norway

There is a 0.525% municipal wealth tax for individuals with net wealth exceeding 1.7m kroner (about £125,000) or 3.52m kroner (£256,000) for spouses.

Norway also has a state wealth tax of 0.475% based on assets exceeding a net capital tax basis of 1.7m kroner (£125,000) or 3.52m kroner (£256,000) for spouses, and 0.575% for net wealth in excess of 20.7m kroner (£1.5m).

The maximum combined wealth tax rate is 1.1%.

The Norwegian Labour coalition government also increased dividend tax to 20% in 2023, and with the wealth tax, it prompted about 80 affluent business owners, with an estimated net worth of £40bn, to leave Norway.

Spain

Residents in Spain have to pay a progressive wealth tax on worldwide assets, with a €700,000 (£600,000) tax free allowance per person in most areas and homes up to €300,000 (£250,000) tax exempt.

The progressive rate goes from 0.2% for taxable income for assets of €167,129 (£144,000) up to 3.5% for taxable income of €10.6m (£9.146m) and above.

It has been reported that more than 12,000 multimillionaires have left Spain since the government introduced the higher levy at the end of 2022.

Switzerland

All of the country’s cantons (districts) have a net wealth tax based on a person’s taxable net worth – different to total net worth.

It takes into account the balance of an individual’s worldwide gross assets, including bank account balances, bonds, shares, life insurances, cars, boats, properties, paintings, jewellery – minus debts.

Switzerland also works on a progressive rate, ranging from 0.3% to 0.5%, with a relatively low starting point at which people are taxed on their wealth, such as 50,000 CHF (£46,200) in several cantons.

Politics

Jingye and Whitehall officials hold talks over British Steel future

Published

7 hours ago

July 9, 2025

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Jingye and Whitehall officials hold talks over British Steel future

The Chinese owner of British Steel has held fresh talks with government officials in a bid to break the impasse over ministers’ determination not to compensate it for seizing control of the company.

Sky News has learnt that executives from Jingye Group met senior civil servants from the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) late last week to discuss ways to resolve the standoff.

Whitehall sources said the talks had been cordial, but that no meaningful progress had been made towards a resolution.

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Jingye wants the government to agree to pay it hundreds of millions of pounds for taking control of British Steel in April – a move triggered by the Chinese group’s preparations for the permanent closure of its blast furnaces in Scunthorpe.

Such a move would have cost thousands of jobs and ended Britain’s centuries-old ability to produce virgin steel.

Jingye had been in talks for months to seek £1bn in state aid to facilitate the Scunthorpe plant’s transition to greener steelmaking, but was offered just half that sum by ministers.

British Steel has not yet been formally nationalised, although that remains a probable outcome.

Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, has previously dismissed the idea of compensating Jingye, saying British Steel’s equity was essentially worthless.

Last month, he met his Chinese counterpart, where the issue of British Steel was discussed between the two governments in person for the first time.

Jingye has hired the leading City law firm Linklaters to explore the recovery of hundreds of millions of pounds it invested in the Scunthorpe-based company before the government seized control of it.

News of last week’s meeting comes as British steelmakers face an anxious wait to learn whether their exports to the US face swingeing tariffs as part of US President Donald Trump’s trade war.

Sky News’s economics and data editor, Ed Conway, revealed this week that the UK would miss a White House-imposed deadline to agree a trade deal on steel and aluminium this week.

Jingye declined to comment, while a spokesman for the Department for Business and Trade said: “We acted quickly to ensure the continued operations of the blast furnaces but recognise that securing British Steel’s long-term future requires private sector investment.

“We have not nationalised British Steel and are working closely with Jingye on options for the future, and we will continue work on determining the best long-term sustainable future for the site.”