Henry Bolton blasts Angela Rayner over tax affairs: 'Publish your defence or GO!'

She had bought her ex-council house and made £48,000 on the sale which, if it was not her principal property, would have been eligible for capital gains tax. Rayner has always maintained this was her primary home and therefore she was exempt from this tax.

However, The Mail on Sunday has claimed that according to its analysis of her social media and Twitter accounts, evidence suggests she should have paid more capital gains tax precisely because that house was not her primary property.

A Labour Party spokesperson said: "Angela and her husband mutually decided to maintain their existing residences to reflect their family's circumstances and they shared childcare responsibilities.

"Angela has always made clear she also spent time at her husband's property when they had children and got married. She was perfectly entitled to do so."

Speaking on GB News, Bolton said: "Fundamentally, what we've got here is a situation that she is creating or she is enabling.

"The Labour Party is enabling and that is to further the disappointment of the British people in terms of the transparency and the integrity of our politicians on all sides.

"I'm saying the same thing about Angela Rayner. She should publish her defence or go.

"There are accusations. There are plenty of accusations out there that are unfounded. And many, many people in all sorts of walks of life have lost their jobs, and had their lives destroyed because of unfounded accusations.

"If Angela Rayner has got the evidence that it's unfounded, why doesn't she clear it up?"

GB News host Bev Turner asked former editor of Labour List, Peter Edwards: "Do you think that ironically, this might play to the benefit of Labour? Because there are some people, I think, who would say if I had a second home, or if the reason we're talking about a second one, is because it was she bought the council house."

"It was a few years ago, stop giving her a hard time. It casts her as a bit of a victim, as some people might vote for Labour because they feel a bit sorry for her."

Edwards said: "I wouldn't put it quite in those terms. I think honesty and integrity are important all the time, even if we're talking about a pound.

"I think there's a broader point that certain parts of the public realised that Labour get a very tough time in an election year, and you'll both remember that when Ed Miliband was leader, there was an allegation against him in several newspapers that ran and ran and ran over inheritance tax and alleged avoidance, and that was also not proven.

"So these things do come up in an election year. Secondly, I'd say Angela's published more information about her separation, her home and her children, or quite intimate matters than many other politicians ever do.

"It's not about the amount of money, in my view. It's about the principle. If tax was due, it should have been paid and if it is and she is being honest about it, it doesn't matter if it's £500 or 5 million in my view.

Bolton agreed: "I agree it's about whether or not she's lying about it. If if this was an innocent mistake, she should cough up to it and pay what's due and show provide some sort of evidence that she's not been lying with ill intent.

"There's two other things about this. One is she's been asked about this many, many times and she has denied it vociferously."