How The Telegraph led to Rayner’s downfall

Latest from our newsroom as deputy prime minister quits

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Good afternoon, We’re bringing you a special edition of From the Editor this lunchtime, after the resignation of the deputy prime minister. Chris Evans, Editor

Rayner quits Gordon Rayner Associate Editor   Angela Rayner has resigned as deputy prime minister and housing secretary after a Telegraph investigation exposed her tax affairs. Ms Rayner has also stood down from her position as deputy leader of the Labour Party, meaning an election must now be held among Labour members to choose her successor. It is the scenario Sir Keir Starmer was desperate to avoid, as it will overshadow the coming Labour Party conference and amount to a judgment on his premiership. Ms Rayner quit days after The Telegraph revealed she had failed to pay a £40,000 tax bill on the purchase of her seaside home. She initially blamed the legal advice she received before referring herself to the parliamentary ethics watchdog and HMRC. But last night The Telegraph disclosed claims by Ms Rayner’s lawyers that they had been made “scapegoats” and not given her tax advice. After concluding his investigation, Sir Laurie Magnus, the independent adviser on ministerial interests, said: “It is highly unfortunate [...] that Ms Rayner failed to pay the correct rate of SDLT [stamp duty land tax] on this purchase, particularly given her status and responsibilities as the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government and as deputy prime minister. “She believed that she relied on the legal advice she had received, but unfortunately did not heed the caution contained within it, which acknowledged that it did not constitute expert tax advice and which suggested that expert advice be sought.” It means Sir Keir must also reshuffle his Cabinet to replace her as housing secretary. Read the full story here ➤ Plus, follow the latest updates here ➤ Below my colleague Robert Mendick reveals how The Telegraph’s reporting team led to Ms Rayner’s resignation.   How The Telegraph’s tenacious reporting led to Rayner’s downfall Robert Mendick Chief Reporter   So, finally Angela Rayner has resigned; a week after The Telegraph published its damaging revelation that the deputy prime minister – and housing secretary to boot – had underpaid stamp duty to the tune of £40,000. The nail in her political coffin was a report by the Prime Minister’s ethics adviser that she had ignored two warnings that she needed expert tax advice on her purchase of an £800,000 seaside holiday home in Hove. When The Telegraph published our first report last week, we in the newsroom wondered how she could survive. Surely Ms Rayner should have paid the £70,000 stamp duty bill due if Hove were a second home as we believed, rather than the £30,000 she stumped up on her insistence it was her only property? After all, she was the one asserting her primary residence was her constituency home in Ashton-under-Lyne in Greater Manchester. Ms Rayner, her aides, and ministers including Sir Keir Starmer himself, pushed back at The Telegraph’s reporting. She had done no wrong, we kept being told, and had paid the correct taxes according to the expert advice given. It has now proved not to be the case. As The Telegraph kept digging, more and more information began to seep out. We learnt that she had obtained her £150,000 deposit for the Hove flat by selling her remaining stake in her Ashton home to a trust set up for her disabled son; and that her conveyancers said they pushed through the £30,000 stamp duty purely on the information Ms Rayner was giving them. It’s all over now for Ange. The most interesting, by far, minister in Sir Keir’s largely bland Government. Read the full story here ➤   WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW Angela Rayner rose from Stockport union rep to deputy prime minister – then came crashing down Annabel Denham | This is why shameful Rayner had to go Tom Harris | Her resignation is an utter humiliation for Keir Starmer What did Angela Rayner do wrong? Her tax row explained   Sign up to our breaking news alert emails to keep up to speed with the ever-changing news agenda. Thanks for reading Chris Evans, Editor

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