'IF PM HAD BACKBONE HE WOULD SACK HER'

Starmer under pressure after Angela Rayner admits not paying enough stamp duty

- By Martyn Brown Political Editor

SIR Keir Starmer is under mounting pressure to sack Angela Rayner after she confessed to not paving enough tax on her second home.

The Deputy Prime Minister's political career is hanging by a thread after she referred herself to the No10 sleaz watchdog. The Labour firebrand also revealed she considered quitting amid the scandal.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has demanded she must be sacked, citing Sir Keir's own words that "tax evasion is a criminal offence".

She added: "If Keir Starmer had a backbone, he would sack her." The Prime Minister's right-hand woman yesterday admitted not paying enough stamp duty but blamed expert advice she received over her son's trust.

Her political career and leadership hopes could be in tatters if ethics adviser Sir Laurie Magnus finds she breached the ministerial code.

Ms Rayner, who is also the Housing Secretary, has faced days of accusations that she dodged a £40,000 tax bill on her new flat in Hove on the South Coast.

She finally opened up on her tax affairs in a television interview after a court order was lifted.