Kier next.......?

[Ablondiebutagoody]

Angela Rayner, Labour Housing minister caught fiddling her stamp duty by £40K.

Tulip Saddiq, Labour anti corruption minister suspended for corruption.

Rushanara Ali, Labour Homelessness minster resigns after evicting tenants, upping the rent and re-letting the house.

Andrew Gwynne, Labour Health minister gone after saying he hoped pensioner would die.

Louise Haige resigned after fraud conviction.

Likely super injunction regarding those three young men firebombing property linked to Kier Starmer.

Keir next to go? Yes = not unreasonable

(can't edit title typo)

He's been allowed to 'get on with it' for over a year and has failed dismally. He's weak and utterly lacking in any kind of leadership skills. Failing to deal with Rayner has highlighted just how incompetent and spineless he is.

We can only hope OP! Awful, spineless clueless excuse for a PM.

I feel bad for Rayner. MANY laypeople just accept their conveyancer's calculation of stamp duty, even if there is some small print that they are not giving tax advice. I really doubt she was trying to con HMRC - for one thing she wouldn't throw away her career for £40k.

Let’s not forget the number of tories who have done far, far worse things and got celebrated for it.

Farage bought a house in his girlfriend’s name to get first time buyer status and avoid stamp duty entirely.

Rayner took tax advice and was misled.

I mean really, has anyone here ever instructed a tax KC when buying a house? Or even know anyone who has? Mad to think that this should have been on her mind.

He's a lawyer not a leader.

Nope. I don’t think calculation of SDLT is even tax advice. It’s just part of the transaction.

For what purpose? Why are people going along with it?

Totally agree.

I think he’d in office for 5 minutes before the Tory’s were asking why he hadn’t corrected the previous 14 years of shite they’d created.

And now you have Tory MPs who put asylum seekers in hotels campaigning against the hotels and blaming Starmer for their use.

Even today it’s being brushed over that Farage out his constituency home in his paRayners name to avoid the tax.

And the telegraph running one story about Rayner whilst they’ve previously run stories about how to avoid Stamp duty.

i also think Starmer is a decent man from what I’ve seen of him and I think the fact he is and doesn’t rise to the bait is what annoys Badenoch and Farage the most!

Edited to correct parents to partners autocorrect!

That's not what happened according to the ethics investigation report. Rayner was advised TWICE to obtain specialist advice. In both cases, she chose not to do so. Nothing was hidden in 'small print'. The calculation was based solely on information provided by Angela Rayner using the HMRC calculator. There is no liability on the part of the conveyancer.

this is what the ethics report says:

a) Ms Rayner was open about the existence of the Trust and considered that, between them, the firms advising her had appropriate knowledge and awareness of the details and circumstances of the Trust;
b) on the basis of the advice she received, Ms Rayner believed that the lower rate of SDLT would be applicable; indeed she was twice informed in writing that this was the case; but
c) in those two instances, that advice was qualified by the acknowledgement that it did not constitute expert tax advice and was accompanied by a suggestion, or in one case a recommendation, that specific tax advice be obtained; and
d) if such expert tax advice had been received, as it later was, it would likely have advised her that a higher rate of SDLT was payable.

The law firm involved has said that they calculated SDLT on the basis of the info given by Rayner - but the above report makes clear that they MIScalculated on the basis of this info (because they knew about the trust). She was given incorrect advice, which was caveated with a boilerplate arse-covering disclaimer which in this case she sadly should have acted on. Like I say, it is totally normal for conveyancers to calculate SDLT, in all cases they will also say "we are not tax experts, seek your own advice" (because conveyancers are not in fact tax experts), in 99% of cases buyers will ignore this advice (most probably don't even check their conveyancer's calculation). Rayner has been foolish but I think that many, many people would have acted as she did in her position.

The conveyancer was aware of the existence of the trust and thus miscalculated the SDLT payable.

No, Keir Starmer is not ‘next’.

I feel really sad about all of this, while tax avoider and country wrecker Farage is on the loose.

You forgot: another MP walking in on PM Boris Johnson in his office getting sucked off by his girlfriend, who he was trying to give a £100k job to, while his wife was in hospital; and then Downing Street "asked" the Times not to print the story (and the Times obeyed). Happy to remind you about that one.

It's Keir.

The conveyancer was very clear that expert advice should be obtained. No liability on their part.

That’s not how it works. They’re attempting to cover their arses for the fact they calculated the SDLT incorrectly, despite being aware of the trust. That’s negligence - no matter whether they advised to get advice or not.

I agree the conveyancer has probably avoided liability for negligence by giving advice subject to a disclaimer. That's why lawyers give disclaimers - so they can't be sued. Does that mean it was it dishonest or unreasonable for Rayner to have followed that advice? No, obviously not. Most people follow their conveyancer's tax advice, even though it is caveated in this way.

If I am wrong and this was not a standard form disclaimer but an earnest suggestion that she instruct tax counsel, then I do think that would make if different. I just bet it wasn't though.

So if it's 'negligence' as you claim, Angela Rayner will have no problem suing them and being reinstated in her job. We shall wait with baited beath for the outcome of that particular legal case.

That’s also not how negligence works (in the first instance). But to claim that they get away with being incorrect because they advised to seek ILA isn’t correct.

Advising to seek expert advice to cover up your negligence isn’t the same thing though

She was advised to seek specialist advice, that was a good suggestion which she ignored.

There’s no way Streeting et al could repeat the defence from the other day, it’s probably why she’s gone. No MPs could do the media rounds.

It’s all rather depressing as who would do a decent job of replacing him?

well precisely; all these people who don’t like Keir- who would do a better job? I think he’s doing ok. No one is perfect but I don’t see why all the hate. And I do wish people would learn to spell Keir.

I just wish we could get someone who is better than ‘ok’