ASHTON-UNDER-LYNE’S MP Angela Rayner has quit as the country’s Deputy Prime Minister after being found to have breached the rules.
The Housing Secretary and Labour’s deputy leader was found to have underpaid stamp duty on a house he bought in Hove, East Sussex, by £40,000.
As that was exposed, as well as questions being raised over the status of her property in Ashton, she referred herself to the Prime Minister’s ethics advisor, Sir Laurie Magnus.
Now after he found she breached the ministerial code, she has stood down from her senior position.
Ms Rayner admitted failing to pay the full stamp duty on the property but Sir Laurie’s letter to Sir Keir Starmer spelled out his feelings after she failed to get expert tax advice.
It states: “It is highly unfortunate that Ms Rayner failed to pay the current rate of SDLT, particularly given her status and responsibilities.
“I consider that her unfortunate failure to settle her SDLT liability at the correct level, coupled with the fact that this was established only following intensive public scrutiny, leads me to advise you that, in relation to this matter, she cannot be considered to have met the ‘highest possible standards of proper conduct’ as envisaged by the Code.
“Accordingly, it is with deep regret that I must advise you that in these circumstances, I consider the Code to have been breached.”
In an interview, Ms Rayner claimed: “I made a mistake based upon the advice that I relied upon that I received at the time.
“A leading expert has now said that advice was wrong.
“People make mistakes, but I conducted myself in trying to do the right thing, and I hope that people can see that.”
However following Sir Laurie’s verdict, she stood down, citing the impact the affair has had on her family.
In a letter before she was replaced by David Lammy, she wrote: “I have long believed that people who serve the British public in government must always observe the highest standards.
“And while the independent adviser has concluded that I acted in good faith and with honesty and integrity throughout, I accept that I did not meet the highest standards in relation to my recent property purchase.
“I deeply regret my decision to not seek additional specialist tax advice given both my position as Housing Secretary and my complex family arrangements.
“I take full responsibility for this error. It was never my intention to do anything other than pay the right amount.
“My family did not choose to have their private lives interrogated and exposed so publicly.
“I have been clear throughout this process that my priority has, and always will be, protecting my children and the strain I am putting them under through staying in post has become unbearable.”
Ms Rayner, whose constituency also takes in Audenshaw. Droylsden and Dukinfield, described serving in the highest level of government as ‘the honour of my life.’
She will continue as MP for Ashton, although many feel she should now stand down following this latest scandal.
But in her resignation letter, she added: “I’ve always known that politics changes lives because it changed mine.
“Every day I had in office, I worked to serve working class communities like the one that I grew up in, which are too often overlooked by those in power.
“I am proud that in every decision I made, I did it for them. I can only hope that the changes I made in government will have the same impact for young girls growing up on council estates like I did.”
Following Ms Rayner’s resignation, political opponents in Tameside pounced on it.
Conservative Councillor Liam Billington wrote: “Tameside is in a mess. All three Labour MPs have been embroiled in scandal.
“We deserve better.”