Angela Rayner’s flat has been graffitied with the phrase “tax evader” as the deputy prime minister faces calls to resign after admitting underpaying stamp duty on her Hove property.
Footage from the seaside flat shows the words “tax evader” and “b***h” written in purple, red and yellow lettering. The words can be seen in various sizes across the front of the white wall around her front patio.
An additional message of “Tax evader Rayner” could also be seen graffitied on a construction clipboard nearby.
A spokesperson for Ms Rayner decried the offensive graffiti as “unjustifiable and beyond the pale”.
The spokesperson said: “This vandalism to residents’ homes is totally unjustifiable and beyond the pale.
“Neither Angela nor her neighbours deserve to be subjected to harassment and intimidation.
“It will rightly be a matter for the police to take action as they deem appropriate.”
Ms Rayner has been under mounting pressure in recent weeks after reports emerged she had saved £40,000 in stamp duty on her East Sussex flat by not paying the higher rate reserved for additional home purchases.
Details about the complex property arrangements have continued to emerge since Ms Rayner’s statement on Wednesday, when she had said that a court-instructed trust was established in 2020 following a “deeply personal and distressing incident” involving her son as a premature baby.
He was left with life-long disabilities and to ensure he continued to have stability in the family home in Greater Manchester, she said her family had agreed that its interest in that property would be transferred to the trust.
She said she had put her stake in the constituency home in Ashton-under-Lyne into this trust.
But tax experts have since said the new Hove property could not be treated as her only residence because of the nature of the trust.
On Wednesday she admitted she had made a “mistake” and referred herself to standards adviser Sir Laurie Magnus after receiving fresh legal advice that she was liable for the extra duty following headlines about the purchase.
Sources close to Ms Rayner, who is also the housing secretary, have since said she was given three separate pieces of legal advice before buying the £800,000 flat in Hove.
The Conservatives have written to HMRC calling for it to launch its own investigation on whether she tried to evade tax, with party chairman Kevin Hollinrake saying her explanation “cannot withstand scrutiny”.
Ms Rayner’s cabinet colleagues came to her defence during the media rounds on Thursday morning, saying they had “full confidence” in the deputy PM and that she had “sought to be transparent”.
Speaking to broadcasters on Thursday, Ms Reeves said: “I have full confidence in Angela Rayner. She’s a good friend and a colleague she has accepted the right stamp duty wasn’t paid.
“That was an error, that was a mistake. She is working hard now to rectify that, in contact with HMRC to make sure that the correct tax is paid.”
She said the “definitive advice” on the Deputy Prime Minister’s stamp duty arrangements came in on Wednesday morning.
Ms Phillipson said initial follow-up advice “came back on Monday” and that Ms Rayner then applied to have a court order lifted which prevented her speaking about the arrangements.
“She has acted in good faith, sought to act appropriately with the information available to her,” she told Times Radio.
Ms Phillipson said the case was different from sleaze rows under the previous Tory government, of which Ms Rayner was an outspoken critic, adding: “What we saw in some of those cases in the past was a lack of scrutiny and a lack of transparency.
“The Deputy Prime Minister has sought to be transparent, has set out in some detail, which has been difficult given that it relates to her family, extensive information.”
The Independent has contacted Sussex Police for comment
