If there are two things Angela Rayner can’t stand, it’s Tories (previously labelled scum) and tax avoiders. So Tories avoiding tax, that really gets her riled up. Back in 2017, Rayner tweeted: ‘@jeremycorbyn correct to raise tax dodging issue, the public are furious with those who get away with tax avoidance while they pay! #pmqs’ Similarly, in the same year, Rayner tweeted:
HMRC staff cut as corporate/super rich tax dodgers not challenged, PM does not have the answers, tax avoidance damaging our country #pmqs
These tweets are now coming under scrutiny in light of today’s claims that Rayner has ‘dodged’ tax herself. The Telegraph reports Rayner avoided £40,000 in stamp duty by removing her name from the deeds of her constituency home just weeks before she purchased a new flat in Hove. As a result, she could claim her new seaside flat in Hove was her first home.
Still, at least Rayner’s old tweets have some defence. As she wrote in 2016: ‘Thanks to those who keep pointing out the difference between tax avoidance and tax evasion, I tend to concentrate on tax evasion.’ Guess that’s alright then! As Denis Healey, Rachel Reeves’ predecessor, once said: ‘The difference between tax avoidance and tax evasion is the thickness of a prison wall.’
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