Bury North MP James Daly has been grilled over his claims that a prominent Labour politician may have broken electoral law.
Mr Daly was questioned by Sky News’ Beth Rigby earlier this week over his claims that the Labour Party’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, may owe thousands in capital gains tax following the sale of her former Stockport council house in 2015.
Mr Daly, a deputy chairman of the Conservative Party, reported the claims to Greater Manchester Police (GMP), that Ms Rayner’s neighbour contradicted claims that her property, which was separate from her husbands, was her main place of residence.
Mr Daly repeatedly refused to answer when asked what he believed Ms Rayner had done wrong.
Chris Bryant, the Labour MP for Rhondda in South Wales, also appeared on the programme, and asked Mr Daly, “what is it that you are alleging Angela Rayner has done?"
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He replied: “The matter is with Greater Manchester Police.
“An allegation has been made to the police, the police are investigating that, let's give them the time and the opportunity to do that.
Mr Bryant asked again what Dr Daly thought Ms Rayner “had done wrong".
Mr Daly replied that had “just answered that question".
Ms Rigby also queried why Mr Daly would not answer when asked what he had alleged Ms Rayner had done.
She said: “Did you not put concerns of allegations [to GMP]? Didn’t you write to them about it?
"Am I misunderstanding?
"So, what did you ask them, why won’t you say? It’s weird.”
Mr Daly said: “I asked police to investigate certain matters that were in the public domain regarding certain things."
"Why won't you say?" asks Sky's @BethRigby
— Sky News (@SkyNews) April 17, 2024
Conservative James Daly MP refuses to answer multiple times when asked what he thinks Angela Rayner has done wrong, despite being the person who contacted the police about her.https://t.co/qeYG7JJ2VK
📺 Sky 501 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/wBcR1ddxVk
“My point is, which I don’t think is an unreasonable point, I want the police to be given the time and the space to be able to investigate those matters.”
Ms Rayner is facing scrutiny about whether she paid the right amount of tax on the 2015 sale of her council house because of confusion over whether it was her principal residence.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer welcomed the police investigation into Ms Rayner’s council house sale and said it will allow a “line to be drawn” on the issue.
She has rejected suggestions in a book by former Tory deputy chairman Lord Ashcroft that she failed to properly declare her main home.
The unauthorised biography alleges that she bought her former council house, in Vicarage Road in Stockport with a 25 per cent discount in 2007 under the right-to-buy scheme.
The former carer is said to have made a £48,500 profit when selling the house eight years later.
In the same year as her wedding, Ms Rayner is said to have re-registered the births of her two youngest children, giving her address as where her husband resided.
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Ms Rayner has insisted that Vicarage Road was her “principal property” despite her husband living elsewhere at the time. But neighbours have reportedly disputed her claim that she lived apart from her husband.
Tax experts have estimated that, while Ms Rayner may not have owed anything in capital gains tax following the sale depending on her residency situation, there are circumstances in which she could have owed as much as £3,500 to the taxman.
The opposition frontbencher has said she did “nothing wrong” and that the controversy about her tax affairs was “manufactured” in an attempt to smear her.
A Labour spokesperson said: “Angela welcomes the chance to set out the facts with the police.
“We remain completely confident that Angela has complied with the rules at all times and it’s now appropriate to let the police do its work.”
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