Protesters billed as ‘grassroots activists’ by the Daily Express have been revealed to be local Conservative councillors in a Byline Times sting that casts doubt over whether the recent controversy surrounding Angela Rayner is cutting through with the public.
The deputy Labour leader visited Yarm, North Yorkshire, this week as local election campaigning ramped up ahead of the May elections and was met with a small gathering of tax protesters donning caps, glasses and yellow vests with the slogan “tax inspector”.
Rayner has been at the centre of a smear campaign over her tax affairs after questions were raised in the Daily Mail over whether she paid the right amount of tax on the 2015 sale of her council house due to confusion over whether it was her principal residency.
Rayner has insisted she has “done absolutely nothing wrong” and took legal advice that no rules were broken, but that hasn’t stopped right-wingers from orchestrating a relentless smear campaign against her.
Videos published in the Daily Express have shown so-called ‘activists’ convening to protest against her tax affairs during a visit to Teesside.
Reports in the newspaper refer to what are described as “local sources” suggesting that Rayner was “forced to sneak out the back door of the Tomahawk bar to avoid being photographed with the protestors on the way out.”
But one of the organisers has since admitted that the protest was organised and conducted by Conservative Party politicians.
Byline Times has managed to identify one of the protesters as local Conservative Councillor for Yarm, John Coulson.
Coulson admitted to this paper to taking part in the protest, alongside other local Conservative councillors.
However, he denied organising the protest, which he said had been put together at short notice by “others” in the party
“Our local guys decided to make this protest”, Coulson said.
“It wasn’t organised by me. I was asked to get involved because I am very vocal, and I’m very active and because I believe in what we’re doing, I got involved”.
Coulson, who faced his own local controversy back in 2022 over allegations of posting misogynistic social media posts, said that he took part because he feels “very protective” of local Conservative MP Matt Vickers, who is projected to lose his seat in the House of Commons to Labour, according to a series of recent national opinion polls.
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