Deputy Labor Party leader Angela Rayner has vowed to resign if she is found guilty of a criminal offence. Photo: Getty/Eddie Keogh
Former employee Angela Rayner provided a police statement refuting her claims about where her primary residence was.
Matt Finnegan said he had “no doubt” that the residence that Mrs. Rayner shared with her husband was her “family home.” at home.”
The claims come as the deputy leader of the Labor Party is under investigation by Greater Manchester Police and will lead to further questions about whether she underpaid tax on the sale of her home.
Ms Rayner has come under scrutiny into whether she had underpaid tax on the sale of her home.
She had to pay out capital gains on the sale of her council home in Vicarage Road, Stockport, in 2015 due to confusion over whether whether this was her main residence or whether she lived with her then husband at a separate address in Lowndes Lane.
Incorrectly giving her permanent address on the electoral roll would also be a criminal offense and Greater Manchester Police said on Friday it was “investigating whether any offenses have been committed”.
The Sunday Times reported that Ms. Mr Finnegan, Ms Rayner's former adviser, gave a statement to police saying he visited her at her Lowndes Lane home in the summer of 2014, around the time she became a parliamentary candidate.
< p>Mr Finnegan, who left Ms Rayner's job several years ago after signing a pay and non-disclosure agreement after accusing her of unfair dismissal, said in his letter: “I had no doubt that this was a family matter. Mrs. Rayner's house where she lived. with her then-husband Mark.
“I remember it very well because Ms. Rayner wasn’t home at first and I had to wait in the car for a while before she finally arrived. It was also memorable because it was the first and only time I visited her home during my volunteer work for her.”
Jim McMahon, the shadow local government minister, dismissed the allegations as “a storm in a teacup”. Photo: Getty/Ian Forsyth
When the police investigation was announced on Friday, Ms Rayner said she would leave if she was found to have “committed a criminal offence”.
In a statement, she said: “I have stated on numerous occasions that I would welcome the opportunity to meet with the relevant authorities, including the police and HMRC, to set out the facts and draw a line on this matter. I am fully confident that I have followed the rules at all times.”
She added: “I will say as I have before: if I had committed a criminal offense, I would of course do the right thing and resign.”
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However, a legal expert said she could not be prosecuted. In connection with the charges, she gave false information about her main place of residence because the time limit for doing so had expired.
Scott Wortley, a law lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, said Ms Rayner could not be prosecuted , since there is an “absolute rule” in the Representation of the People Act 1983 that “any offense” under the Act must be prosecuted within a year.
“An extension of one year may be obtained, but this extension must apply within the first year,” he said.
“There is no way he can be prosecuted because it is an absolute sentence.”
Mr Wortley added: “The only way to determine whether someone has committed a criminal offense is to find them guilty of criminal offense [in court].”
'Trying to save her own skin'
The information prompted some Tory MPs to say Ms Rayner had carefully worded her statement to set the bar incredibly high for her resignation.
One Conservative Party member told The Telegraph: “Obviously she's doing everything she can to try and save her own skin.
“I think it's clear to everyone that she has behaved in the wrong way and has also shown a high degree of hypocrisy.'
They added: “It is clearly a double standard, it is sheer hypocrisy the number of times she has attacked and called on various Tory ministers to resign while various investigations are being carried out.”
“So the fact that she herself will not stand aside is what I would expect from the Labor Party and people like her.”
Another Conservative MP said they agreed that Ms. Rayner carefully crafted the statement to limit potential damage to her career. They said: “When I heard [the statement] I thought, 'That's very unusual, isn't it?'”
The MP said Ms Rayner had shown “gross hypocrisy” and that she could be grounds to resign if it is determined that she underpaid taxes.
On Saturday, one of Labour's shadow ministers denied the allegations. against Ms Rayner as a “storm in a teacup”.
Jim McMahon, the shadow local government minister, said: “You don't have many Tory MPs, in fact I can't think of anyone who welcomes the police investigation. We want to draw a line under this and move on.
“We don't have many Tory MPs who say that if wrongdoing is found, they will take action and step aside.”
This raises serious questions for Sir Keir.
The Tories, meanwhile, said the case reflected poorly on Sir Keir Starmer's decision-making.
Jonathan Gallis, the party's deputy chairman, said: “The Angela Rayner saga raises serious questions about Sir Keir's ability to lead his own party.” , let alone the country.
“If he has demonstrated this level of willful blindness towards his own deputy, how can he be trusted to make a decision on anything?
“It’s time Starmer has pulled his head out of the sand.”
A Labor Party spokesman said: “Angela has always made it clear that she also spent time at her husband's property when they had children and got married, just as he did at hers . The house she owned remained her main home.
“Angela looks forward to meeting with the relevant authorities, including the police and HMRC, to set out the facts and draw a line on this matter.”
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