Angela Rayner has been confronted by protesters during a campaign event in Teesside with Labour’s Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
Labour’s deputy leader was forced to flee out the back door of a pub after hiding under an umbrella on Yarm high street.
Protesters held up a banner which said: “Anglea Rayner tax dodger?”
Demonstrators who held onto the banner were wearing high-viz vests emblazoned with “tax inspector”.
Angela Rayner with Rachel Reeves and Yvette Cooper
PA
The protest comes ahead of the local elections on May 2 and amid growing speculation about whether the sale of Rayner’s ex-council house home in Stockport saw her avoid the capital gains levy.
The 44-year-old has spent more than a month categorically denying the accusations.
She has instead been claiming that her "principal property" was a house in Stockport which meant she was living separately from her husband and children for the first few years of marriage.
Rayner reportedly left the Tomahawk bar through the backdoor to avoid being photographed with the protesters.
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Labour Deputy Leader Angela Rayner launched the party's campaign for the May 2 local elections
GETTYA report by The Mail on Sunday put further pressure on Labour’s deputy leader after revealing Rayner posted a series of social media updates about her life with her children and cats at her husband's address.
Rayner purchased the property using Margaret Thatcher's right-to-buy scheme in 2007 and made £48,500 in profit when she sold the home eight years later.
The mother-of-three, who vocally called for Boris Johnson to resign after the ex-Prime Minister was fined during Scotland Yard’s Operation Hillman investigation, sparked further controversy after refusing to publish her tax details.
Rayner previously urged Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Foreign Secretary Lord David Cameron and Hartlepool MP Jill Mortimer to publish intimate tax details.
Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves addressed speculation about Angela Rayner yesterday
PAReeves also defender her Shadow Cabinet colleague during an interview with GB News' Christopher Hope yesterday.
The Shadow Chancellor said: “I have every confidence that Angela Rayner has paid the correct amount of tax.
“These are allegations going back to 2015, when she was married to her ex-husband when she lived in a property she no longer owns and before she was a Member of Parliament.
"She has since sought legal and tax advice. She is confident that she paid the right amount of tax and I have the utmost faith and trust in my friend and colleague Angela Rayner."
She added: "I don't think it is right that Angela Rayner is held to a higher standard than anyone else."
