It's a disgrace': Rayner's constituents call for her resignation after stamp duty row

"On Wednesday, the deputy prime minister acknowledged for the first time that she had mistakenly not paid the correct amount of stamp duty when she bought a flat in Hove earlier this year. When she bought the 800,000 property in May, she paid the standard rate of stamp duty, estimated to be about 30,000, rather than the rate for second homes, which is higher, and would have amounted to as much as 70,000."

"She said that after the media furore she had taken further legal advice and now understood that because of the trust arrangements on behalf of her children, she was still regarded as having an interest in the Tameside property and should therefore have paid higher taxes. However, there was little sympathy in her constituency on Thursday morning, with shoppers in Ashton almost unanimously calling for her resignation."

Angela Rayner purchased an £800,000 flat in Hove in May and paid the standard stamp duty rate of about £30,000 rather than the higher second-home rate of up to £70,000. She had placed her stake in her Ashton-under-Lyne Tameside residence into a trust for her children in January, removing her name from the deed. She initially received legal advice that she would not be counted as the owner of the Tameside house, so the Hove flat would be her sole property. After further legal advice she accepted she retained an interest via the trust and should have paid the higher stamp duty. Constituents reacted angrily, calling for her resignation and tagging the Hove property with "tax evader" graffiti.

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