It’s now obvious to all of us with half a brain that this Labour government is rotten to the core. And in a Cabinet of hypocrites, there is no more brazen exponent of the art than Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner.
Ms Rayner may now represent the ‘hard Left’ of Labour, filling the void left by fervent socialist Jeremy Corbyn, but she is widely seen as shoo-in for the top job if Sir Keir Starmer falls on his sword.
What she preaches, however, is not what she practises, especially when it comes to tax.
Not quite a champagne socialist, but more of a rosé one, given her liking for a glass or two of the pink stuff.
As far as Ms Rayner is concerned, it seems tax is for the ‘little people’ to pay, who have grafted throughout their lives.
But when it comes to her own wealth and financial affairs, she goes out of her way to mitigate the taxes she wants to heap on poor old us. One rule for her. Another for the masses.
In one breath, she calls for a barrage of taxes to be unleashed on those who – through a mix of prudence and hard work – have accumulated wealth.
In the next, she protects her own wealth from the very taxes she believes we should pay. Actions most of us would never be able to take as we just don’t have access to the accountants and solicitors she clearly has.
‘As far as Ms Rayner is concerned, it seems tax is for the “little people” to pay, who have grafted throughout their lives,’ writes Jeff Prestridge
Over the past six days, revelations over Ms Rayner’s finances have come as thick and fast as migrants across the Channel.
Last weekend, we woke up to the story, broken in The Mail on Sunday, that the Deputy Prime Minister had added an £800,000 seaside apartment to her empire. How she could afford it is anyone’s guess, although – in her defence – she does earn a salary just shy of £160,000.
But what I do know for sure is that she’ll love Hove, Brighton’s posh neighbour. Indeed, she already is, judging by pictures of her drinking rosé on the beach.
Hove is right up her street, with spectacular views of the giant offshore Rampion Wind Farm to remind her of colleague Ed Miliband’s obsession with clean energy.
And it’s home to more than its fair share of champagne socialists, as I have found to my cost whenever I disclose to locals that I work for the Daily Mail – an instant blackballing.
Since Sunday’s story broke, it was widely understood that in acquiring her seaside abode, Ms Rayner’s property empire had expanded to three homes: the other two being a four-bed £650,000 detached house in her constituency of Ashton-under-Lyne in Greater Manchester, and the use of a grand grace-and-favour apartment within spitting distance of Westminster. To wit: ‘Three Pads Rayner’.
‘Ms Rayner may now represent the ‘hard Left’ of Labour, filling the void left by fervent socialist Jeremy Corbyn, but she is widely seen as shoo-in for the top job if Sir Keir Starmer falls on his sword’
Accumulating a property portfolio is everyone’s right. But Ms Rayner, as housing secretary, is in charge of the Government’s housing policy, a key plank of which is discouraging second-home ownership.
Ministers have regularly spoken about the negative impact of second homes in some parts of the country, on the grounds that – by driving up demand – they make it difficult for local residents to buy or rent. And they’ve not been shy about hitting such owners in the pocket.
Next year, the Renters’ Rights Bill, Ms Rayner’s baby, will come into force, imposing regulations on buy-to-let owners. And Labour now lets councils apply a 100 per cent council tax surcharge on many second-home owners. As a result, it has been reported by those close to the Deputy Prime Minister that she does pay the increased council tax for second homes on the Hove flat. In October, it hiked the stamp duty surcharge on purchases of ‘additional’ homes from 3 to 5 per cent (the rate varies geographically).
There are also rumours second-homeowners could be hit in the Autumn Budget with a national insurance tax bill on rental income.
Just when we thought we’d explored the limits of Ms Rayner’s hypocrisy, it emerged yesterday that she saved £40,000 in stamp duty costs on her new Hove apartment by declaring it was her main home – thereby avoiding the 5 per cent stamp duty surcharge. This, despite it being 264 miles from her constituency. It also emerged her name has been removed from the deeds of her home in Ashton-under-Lyne, which – Land Registry records show – was previously owned by her, her ex-husband Mark and the Shoosmiths Trust. In other words, Three Pads Rayner has become Two Pads.
All above board – but it smacks of rearranging the deckchairs to mitigate tax. And we mustn’t forget Ms Rayner was embroiled in another property controversy when The MoS learnt she made a £48,500 profit on her ex-council house in Stockport thanks to the right-to-buy policy – which Labour has since curtailed.
Sadly, the exposure of Ms Rayner’s blatant hypocrisy when it comes to her own personal tax affairs will do little to change the Autumn Budget.
With a £50 billion hole in public finances to fill, mere mortals are in the firing line for tax hikes. More than likely, there will be cuts to the amount we can put into tax-friendly cash Isas and maybe the reintroduction of a cap on the amount we put into a pension pot before higher tax charges are applied.
Further pension changes could see a clampdown on the amount of tax-free cash we can withdraw from our pot and perhaps a curtailment of the relief higher and additional rate taxpayers now enjoy on contributions.
We could also see higher taxes on capital gains, dividends from shares and an extension of the freeze in income tax thresholds which has already seen millions dragged into paying higher rates.
The irony of this tax assault will not be lost on either Ms Rayner or the electorate because many of the nasty taxes coming our way are the very ones she urged Chancellor Rachel Reeves to introduce before her Budget last year.
No doubt her financial advisers will ensure she won’t be affected in the slightest.