Angela Rayner has admitted she did not pay the right amount of stamp duty on the purchase of her second home and has referred herself to the independent adviser on ministerial standards. 

Speaking to Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby on the Electoral Dysfunction podcast, the deputy prime minister became tearful as she claimed she received incorrect tax advice and spoke to her family about “packing it all in”.

Ms Rayner, who is also the housing secretary, has been under scrutiny after a report in The Daily Telegraph claimed she avoided £40,000 in stamp duty on a flat in Hove by removing her name from the deeds of another property in Greater Manchester.

In a lengthy statement released today, she said it was a “complex living arrangement” as her first home was sold to a trust following her divorce to provide stability for her teenage son, who has lifelong disabilities and is the sole beneficiary of the trust.

She said initial legal advice was that the standard rate of stamp duty applied but following media reports she sought expert counsel who said more tax is due.

She added that these matters were confidential but she applied to a court yesterday to get this lifted in the interests of public transparency.

In a subsequent interview with Beth Rigby, a visibly upset Ms Rayner said: “I’ve been in shock, really, because I thought I’d done everything properly, and I relied on the advice that I received and I’m devastated because I’ve always upheld the rules and always have felt proud to do that.

“That it is devastating for me and the fact that the reason why those confidential clauses were in place was to protect my son, who, through no fault of his own, he’s vulnerable, he’s got this life changing, lifelong conditions and I don’t want him or anything to do with his day-to-day life, to be subjected to that level of scrutiny.”

Asked if she thought about quitting rather than disclose the details about her son, the cabinet minister added: “I spoke to my family about it. I spoke to my ex-husband, who has been an incredibly supportive person because he knows that all I’ve done is try and support my family and help them.”

PM backs Rayner

The statement dropped shortly before the first PMQs following the summer recess. Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said Sir Keir Starmer should fire his deputy.

“If he had backbone, he would sack her,” she said.

However Sir Keir defended Ms Rayner, saying he is “very proud to sit alongside” her.

“She has explained her personal circumstances in detail. She’s gone over and above in setting out the details, including yesterday afternoon asking a court to lift a confidentiality order in relation to her own son.”

He added: “I am very proud to sit alongside a deputy prime minister who is building 1.5m homes, who is bringing the biggest upgrade to workers rights in a generation, and has come from a working class background to become deputy prime minister of this country.”

Watch and listen to the full Electoral Dysfunction interview on Wednesday afternoon – www.podfollow.com/electoraldysfunction

The mother of murdered teenager Brianna Ghey is calling on the government to introduce a ban on mobile phones in schools – a move she says will not only safeguard children, but also improve their behaviour and engagement in class.

In February 2023, Brianna, 16, was stabbed to death by two 15-year-olds after being lured to a park in Warrington.

In the lead-up to the attack, her killers had spent time on the dark web. At the same time, Brianna was also trapped online, struggling with a phone addiction.

Her mother Esther Ghey’s Phone Free Education campaign is driven by her personal experiences as a parent and the impact Brianna’s phone use had on her education.

“All the arguments that me and Brianna had were down to her phone use,” Esther said.

“But even in school, she had issues and I used to have phone calls from the school saying that Brianna wouldn’t put her phone away.”

Brianna, who was transgender, struggled with an eating disorder and also self-harmed.

Her mother says the constant time she spent online exacerbated those issues, while impacting her behaviour at school, where she had 120 safeguarding logs and 116 behaviour incidents recorded by her teachers.

“It was so difficult as a parent, because I felt in one way that I was failing and then in another way, and this is really difficult for me to speak about, I was so annoyed with Brianna,” she recalled.

“I thought, why can’t you just go to school, get your head down and just focus on your education, because this is important.

“Only now, after two years of being immersed in this world, do I realise that actually, it’s so much harder than that.”

Research by the Children’s Commission has shown that 79% of secondary schools are still allowing pupils to bring their mobile phones into school, and even into classrooms.

How phone ban is working at Brianna’s old school

Esther is campaigning for government guidance on phones to become statutory, with funding also set aside for the equipment to help schools implement the ban, arguing the lack of legislation is “setting children up to fail”.

At Birchwood Community High School in Warrington, where Brianna was a pupil, they introduced a ban on phones last September.

At the beginning of the day, pupils turn off their phones and place them in pouches, which are locked. At the end of the school day, the pouches are then unlocked.

The headteacher, Emma Mills, said introducing these measures has come with several benefits.

“It’s had an impact in all areas of school, and it’s actually had a really positive impact in ways that I didn’t foresee,” said Ms Mills.

“Attendance has improved this year. In terms of behaviour, behaviour has improved. We’ve had no permanent exclusions this year in school, which is actually the first time since I’ve been headteacher in six years, there’s been no permanent exclusion.”

This summer, the school also saw its best-ever GCSE results in the core subjects of Science, maths, and English.

‘They can live without their phones’

For Ms Mills, another significant change has been the atmosphere in the school.

“They’re not as worried, they’re not as distracted,” Ms Mills said.

“They’ve realised that they can live without their phones. Something else we’ve really noticed is that it’s a bit louder in school at breaks and lunch times. It’s because they’re talking more, they’re interacting more, and they’re communicating more.”

The positive impact of a ban at Brianna’s old school has served as encouragement to Esther, who has written an open letter addressed to Sir Keir Starmer and Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, asking for government support.

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High-profile signatories include the actress Kate Winslet, as well as actor and film producer Stephen Graham.

For Esther, who will deliver the letter to 10 Downing Street next month, the campaign is not just Brianna’s legacy, but also creating societal change.

“I think it’s important that we teach young people to live in the real world,” she said.

“It’s going to impact society at one point and I think this small amount of investment in students now will have a massive impact in the future.”

Police across the UK dealt with more than 3,000 protests over three months this summer – more than three times as many as just two years ago.

There were 3,081 protests this June, July, and August across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, figures from the National Police Chiefs’ Council have revealed.

Last summer, when riots were raging across the country following the Southport murders, police dealt with 2,942 protests. In 2023, it was 928.

The summer months this year have been dominated by widespread demonstrations, some against the ban on Palestine Action and others against housing asylum seekers in hotels.

‘Increasing tension’

Gavin Stephens, chairman of the NPCC, said it was clear that there has been “more community tension and more division”, adding that “we all have a responsibility, policing included, to set the tone”.

“Anybody in a leadership position should think about how we can reduce and defuse tensions and not sow division,” Mr Stephens said.

The senior official said protests this year were a “chronic pressure” for police compared to last year’s disorder, which was acute.

“This is not talking about the volume of protest, and this is not a commentary from policing on people’s right to protest peacefully,” he said.

“We absolutely support that in a democracy, but we do know that there is a climate of increasing tension and polarity in what we’re seeing.”

He is convinced communities will be able to reunite and “reset”, and said claims that the UK is on the verge of civil disobedience are “exaggerated”.

Read more from Sky News:
Protester arrested after climbing clock tower
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It comes as policing leaders are pushing for a major restructuring of forces in England and Wales, hoping to bring more powers to a national level.

They also want to overhaul how funding is calculated for each force.

A government white paper on potential changes to the service is expected to be published in the coming months.