LBC
Carol Vorderman has blasted Conservative Party attempts to smear deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner, saying it “stinks of desperation”.
The Labour MP has faced scrutiny about whether she paid the right amount of tax on the 2015 sale of her Stockport council house because of confusion over whether it was her principal residence.
She has rejected suggestions in a unauthorised biography by former Tory deputy chairman Lord Ashcroft that she failed to properly declare her main home after buying the property with a 25 per cent discount under the right-to-buy scheme in 2007.
The former carer is said to have made a £48,500 profit when selling the house eight years later.
Government guidance says that a tenant can apply to buy their council home through the right-to-buy scheme if it is their “only or main home”.
Greater Manchester Police had previously said it would not be investigating the allegations, but following a complain from James Daly, the MP for Bury North, the force confirmed it had reassessed information and launched a probe.
Rayner’s husband was listed at another address in Lowndes Lane, about a mile away, which had also been bought under the right-to-buy scheme.
The conflict revolves around whether Rayner used her own home as her principal residence or her husband’s.
Discussing the matter on LBC, Vorderman said the smear campaign against Rayner could have backfired for the Tories, saying many callers saying she has their support.
Watch the clip in full below:
