Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has delivered his verdict on Angela Rayner's tax row after the Deputy Prime Minister admitted she did not pay enough tax on her £800,000 seaside flat.
Ms Rayner has been at loggerheads with Mr Farage over recent weeks, with the Deputy Prime Minister accusing the Reform UK leader of "failing young women" over his opposition to the Online Safety Act.
Meanwhile, Mr Farage's allies in Reform UK have warned that Ms Rayner's decision to buy her Hove apartment could be a sign that she is plotting a "chicken run" from her Red Wall seat of Ashton-under-Lyne.
Reform UK looks poised to snap up Ms Rayner's once-safe home seat, with Nowcast giving Mr Farage's party a 17-point advantage.
However, Mr Farage's damning nine-word verdict puts more pressure on Sir Keir Starmer to sack his Deputy Prime Minister.
Speaking ahead of his appearance at the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee in Washington, Mr Farage said: “I don’t see how Angela Rayner can survive this.”
Ms Rayner admitted that she had considered resigning from Sir Keir's Cabinet after reports revealed she clawed back £40,000 from her stamp duty bill.
"I spoke to my family about it," the Housing Secretary admitted. "I spoke to my ex-husband, who has been an incredibly supportive person because he knows that all I've done is try and support my family and help them."
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage blasted Angela Rayner from the other side of the pond
|PA
The Deputy Prime Minister also confirmed that she had referred herself to the Prime Minister's independent ethics adviser before blaming the debacle on incorrect tax advice.
She added: "I've been in shock, really, because I thought I'd done everything properly, and I relied on the advice that I received and I'm devastated because I've always upheld the rules and always have felt proud to do that.
"That it is devastating for me and the fact that the reason why those confidential clauses were in place was to protect my son, who, through no fault of his own, he's vulnerable, he's got this life changing, lifelong conditions and I don't want him or anything to do with his day-to-day life, to be subjected to that level of scrutiny."
Sir Keir was later grilled on Ms Rayner's tax row in his first Prime Minister's Questions since MPs returned from the summer recess.
Angela Rayner reportedly saved £40,000 in stamp duty | PATory leader Kemi Badenoch claimed the Prime Minister would sack Ms Rayner "if he had a backbone", adding: “It is clear that taxes are going up for everyone, except perhaps the Deputy Prime Minister.”
Sir Keir replied: “In relation to the Deputy Prime Minister, she has explained her personal circumstances in detail, she’s gone over-and-above in setting out the details, including yesterday afternoon asking a court to lift a confidentiality order in relation to her own son.
“I know from speaking at length to the Deputy Prime Minister just how difficult that decision was for her and her family.
"But she did it to ensure that all information is in the public domain, she has now referred herself to the independent adviser, that is the right thing to do."
Kemi Badenoch and Keir Starmer locked horns over Angela Rayner's tax matters at PMQs
|GB NEWS
A number of Tory and Reform UK MPs have put pressure on Sir Keir to sack Ms Rayner.
Shadow Housing Secretary Sir James Cleverly said: “Her credibility is in tatters, she’s dodged questions all summer, her actions reek of hypocrisy. Starmer is too weak to kick her out.”
Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice added: “If anyone from any other party had been in that situation and tried to dodge paying the correct amount of tax, no-one would have screamed and hollered louder than the Deputy Prime Minister. Morally, her situation was always completely indefensible.”
However, Labour MP James Frith defended Ms Rayner over the stamp duty row.
Nigel Farage's Reform UK is in Washington DC to discuss free speech in Britain
| GETTY"On a human level, it's a very difficult moment for Angela and I think you saw that in her appearance today," Mr Frith told GB News.
Ms Rayner revealed some rather candid details about her home life, including a "deeply personal and distressing incident" when her son was a premature baby that left him with lifelong disabilities.
However, Shadow Science Secretary Julia Lopez also told the People's Channel: "The trouble for Angela is that she's never shown any compassion and consideration when she's been attacking people in her position when in opposition.
"The challenge that the public have with a lot of this is the sheer brass neck and hypocrisy of Labour over so many of these issues at a time when they are asking to pay more and more taxes to pay for your economic incompetence."
Keir Starmer has renewed his crusade against Nigel Farage over the Clacton MP's visit to Washington DC
| GETTYDespite not being at Prime Minister's Questions, Sir Keir could not resist but taking a swipe at Mr Farage.
When asked by Labour MP Lola McEvoy about Mr Farage’s opposition to the Online Safety Act, Sir Keir said: “The Honourable Member for Clacton is not here representing his constituents in the house he was elected to, no, he’s flown to America.
“He’s gone there to bad-mouth and talk down our country and worse than that, he has gone there to lobby America to impose sanctions on this country.
“You cannot get more unpatriotic than that. It’s a disgrace.”
Mr Farage is expected to issue some stark warnings about the state of free speech in Britain, pointing to the cases of both Lucy Connolly and Graham Linehan.