Jeremy Clarkson has issued a blistering swipe at Angela Rayner after the deputy prime minister admitted she had failed to pay the full amount of stamp duty on her £800,000 seaside flat in Hove. The former Top Gear presenter didn’t hold back as he tore into Rayner in a brutal six-word takedown.
The television personality, known for his fiery opinions, took to X to admit he was “puzzled” at Rayner’s acknowledgement of her £40,000 stamp duty underpayment. The Deputy Prime Minister said the flat was her primary residence after placing her Ashton-under-Lyme home in trust for her disabled son. Clarkson highlighted that if a farmer was to do a similar thing he would be labelled a “tax dodger”.
He wrote on X: “I’m puzzled. Labourites tell us that Angela Rayner was only trying to look after her child which they quite rightly say is understandable.
“But when a farmer tries to look after his children,” he said, “they say he’s a tax dodger,” he added in a six-word swipe.
In support one X user wrote: “Rayner bends the rules ‘for her child’ and it’s compassion. A farmer does the same and it’s ‘tax dodging’. Labour’s hypocrisy writes itself.”
“The comparison reflects a narrative of selective empathy Rayner’s personal tax arrangements are defended as family-driven, while farmers’ efforts to secure their children’s futures are critiqued as tax-dodging under Labour’s policy”, said a second.
A third added: “One rule for them, another for the rest of us.”
In mitigation Ms Rayner said she had received inaccurate tax advice admitting that she had even spoken to her family about quitting.
“I spoke to my family about it,” the Housing Secretary said. “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.”
She is reported to have saved £40,000 in stamp duty on her Hove flat because she removed her name from the deeds of a family property in her Ashton-under-Lyne constituency, meaning the Hove property is the only property she owns.
Yesterday Ms Rayner broke down in tears on Sky News over the tax scandal, however, she received no sympathy from BBC Radio presenter and GB News star Lee Harris.
Tweeting a picture of her red-rimmed eyes he said: “The only reason Angela Rayner was crying is because she got caught.”