Sir Keir Starmer has been told he lacks “a backbone” for refusing to sack Angela Rayner over her admission that she underpaid stamp duty on her £800,000 Hove flat, in a bruising Prime Minister’s Questions exchange with Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch.
The Tory leader launched a direct attack on the Prime Minister’s integrity, reminding him of his own words that “tax evasion is a criminal offence and should be treated as all other fraud” before demanding he dismiss his embattled deputy.
But Sir Keir mounted a robust defence of Ms Rayner, declaring he was “very proud to sit alongside” the Deputy Prime Minister and praising her record on housing and workers’ rights.
Badenoch’s Opening Salvo
Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, Ms Badenoch welcomed the fact that the Deputy Prime Minister had referred herself to the ethics adviser before delivering her pointed question.
“She has admitted she underpaid tax. So why is she still in office?” the Conservative leader demanded.
The question came just hours after Ms Rayner admitted in emotional interviews that she had failed to pay the correct stamp duty on her seaside flat purchase, revealing she had even spoken to her family about resigning over the scandal.
Starmer’s Passionate Defence
Sir Keir responded with an impassioned defence of his deputy, acknowledging the personal toll the controversy had taken on her family.
I know from speaking at length to the Deputy Prime Minister just how difficult that decision was for her and her family,” he told the Commons.
“But she did it to ensure that all information is in the public domain, she has now referred herself to the independent adviser, that is the right thing to do.”
The Prime Minister then pivoted to praising Ms Rayner’s achievements in government, adding: “But I can be clear I am very proud to sit alongside a Deputy Prime Minister, who is building 1.5 million homes, who has brought in the biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation and who’s come from a working-class background to be Deputy Prime Minister of this country.
‘Double Standards’ Accusation
Ms Badenoch was quick to suggest political bias in the Prime Minister’s response, firing back at Sir Keir with a pointed observation about double standards.
“I’m not sure we would have heard all that sympathy [for Ms Rayner] if it was a Conservative Deputy Prime Minister who was being attacked,” she said.
The Conservative leader then delivered her most damaging blow, directly quoting the Prime Minister’s own previous statements on tax evasion.
“I remember when the Prime Minister said that tax evasion is a criminal offence and should be treated as all other fraud. If he had a backbone, he would sack her.”
The Stamp Duty Scandal
The confrontation comes after Ms Rayner admitted she had underpaid stamp duty on her £800,000 flat in Hove, purchased in May 2025. The Deputy Prime Minister revealed she could owe up to £40,000 in additional tax after receiving incorrect legal advice.
Ms Rayner had removed her name from the deeds of a family property in her Ashton-under-Lyne constituency weeks before the purchase, meaning the Hove property appeared to be her only home for stamp duty purposes.
However, complex trust arrangements set up for her disabled teenage son meant she was still liable for the higher rate of stamp duty – a fact her initial legal advisers failed to identify.
Emotional Admission
Earlier on Wednesday, Ms Rayner revealed the personal impact of the scandal in interviews, admitting she had been “in shock” and “devastated” by the error.
The Housing Secretary disclosed she had asked a court to lift a confidentiality order relating to her son’s disability so she could explain her circumstances fully to the public.
“I’ve been in shock, really, because I thought I’d done everything properly, and I relied on the advice that I received, and I’m devastated because I’ve always upheld the rules and always have felt proud to do that,” she told Sky’s Electoral Dysfunction podcast.
Complex Family Circumstances
In her statement, Ms Rayner explained that a court-instructed trust was established in 2020 following “a deeply personal and distressing incident” involving her son as a premature baby who was left with life-long disabilities.
The trust was set up to manage a compensation award on his behalf, with the family home transferred to ensure he continued to have stability in a property adapted for his needs.
“The arrangements I have set out reflect the reality that family life is rarely straightforward, particularly when dealing with disability, divorce and the complexities of ensuring your children’s long-term security,” she said.
Political Ramifications
The timing of the scandal is particularly damaging for Labour, coming as the government prepares to raise taxes in future Budgets to fill what it describes as a multi-billion pound black hole in public finances.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to target wealth through increased taxes on second homes, making Ms Rayner’s stamp duty underpayment politically toxic for a government elected on promises of fairness and integrity.
The row also raises questions about Sir Keir’s leadership and whether his support for Ms Rayner will be seen as principled loyalty or weakness in the face of scandal.
Next Steps
Ms Rayner has confirmed she is working with HMRC to pay any additional tax owed and has referred herself to Sir Laurie Magnus, the Prime Minister’s Independent Adviser on Ministers’ Interests.
She continues in her roles as Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary while the investigation proceeds, with Sir Keir’s full backing despite Conservative calls for her dismissal.
The ethics adviser will now investigate whether Ms Rayner breached the Ministerial Code, though she insists her error was based on incorrect professional advice rather than any attempt to avoid tax.
As the political fallout continues, the exchange at PMQs has set the tone for what promises to be a prolonged battle over standards in public life, with the Conservatives determined to paint Labour as hypocritical on tax compliance while Sir Keir stands firmly behind his deputy’s integrity.
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Image Credit:
Prime Minister’s Questions, 6 November 2024 — photograph of Kemi Badenoch MP (North West Essex, Conservative) in the House of Commons during PMQs on 6 November 2024. Photo by the House of Commons, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0)
