Police have contacted Angela Rayner to set up a chat in the long-running row about her council house sale, it is reported.
The Labour deputy leader maintains she’s done nothing wrong as officers probe whether she paid the right amount of tax back in 2015. She has accused her Tories of trying to smear her about her living arrangements nearly a decade ago and vowed to step down if police find she committed a crime.
Detectives are understood to have contacted her office to set up an interview, the Sun on Sunday reports. A Labour spokesman said: “Angela has been clear that she will cooperate with any investigation. We do not plan to give a running commentary. We remain completely confident that Angela has complied with the rules at all times and it’s now appropriate to let the police do their work.”
The row has spiralled from claims made by her former neighbours in an unauthorised biography by the billionaire former Tory peer Lord Ashcroft. She was accused of falsely claiming that she was living at an ex-council house she owned in Stockport when she was living at her husband Mark Rayner’s house a mile down the road. Critics said she may have broken electoral law as she should not have been registered on the electoral roll if she did not live there.
If it wasn’t her main residence, she would have been required to pay around £3,500 in capital gains tax when it sold in 2015. A source told the Sun on Sunday: “There is a lot of information already in the public domain so there is no need to be heavy-handed.
“The police are more interested in gathering all the information they can, and having Angela come in and speak to them. They will then take a view on where the investigation goes from there once they have assessed the evidence.”
GMP had previously said Ms Rayner would not face an investigation into accusations she broke electoral law by giving false information about her main residence. Last month she said: “I’ve repeatedly said I would welcome the chance to sit down with the appropriate authorities, including the police and HMRC, to set out the facts and draw a line under this matter. I am completely confident I’ve followed the rules at all times.”
She went on: “We have seen the Tory Party use this playbook before – reporting political opponents to the police during election campaigns to distract from their record. I will say as I did before – if I committed a criminal offence, I would of course do the right thing and step down. The British public deserves politicians who know the rules apply to them.
“The questions raised relate to a time before I was an MP and I have set out my family’s circumstances and taken expert tax and legal advice. I look forward to setting out the facts with the relevant authorities at the earliest opportunity.”