So the Conservative Party has got a great victory – Greater Manchester Police are going to look into whether the Angela Rayner, Labour Deputy Leader, failed to pay circa £1500 in capital gains tax on a house sale back in 2007. However, I suspect this might start to look more and more pyrrhic over the next weeks and months for the following very simple reason: this puts tax evasion front and centre and the Tory track record on this is very shaky indeed.
Perhaps Raynor should have paid the Capital Gains Tax – I haven’t a clue but if she is being investigated what about Nadhim Zahawi who somehow didn’t pay millions of pounds of Capital Gains Tax? I suspect this might lead to questions to be asked why he wasn’t investigated by the police. Double standards? Or what about all the Non Dom status people who have been able to take advantage of billions of pounds of avoidance – one of whom just happens to be the Prime Minister’s wife.
I’m sure Rishi Sunak won’t like her tax affairs being dragged once more into the public domain – unfortunately his own party has just done that – no matter how unfair this might or might not be. You get the picture.
Raising tax evasion as an issue is always a bad idea for the Tories as this never ends well for them.
For the record if she has evaded the tax then Angela Raynor should be dealt with as any other tax evader. She should also consider her position within the Labour Party. It will be for the voters of Ashton under Lyne as to whether she remains their MP. I suspect she would.
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