Angela Rayner sparks explosive GMB row as Kate Garraway and Ed Balls jump to defence

A fierce row erupted on Thursday's Good Morning Britain as Conservative party chairman Kevin Hollinrake was branded a hypocrite for insisting Angela Rayner should resign immediately.

Kate Garraway pointed out that it had not been proved that Rayner had 'avoided' paying tax and could have received some 'duff' advice after she was found to have not underpaid when buying a second home in May. Kate was backed by co-host Ed Balls who said Boris Johnson had kept numerous Tory MPs including Priti Patel who was accused of bullying - when allegations about Tory Sleaze and misdemeanours hit headlines during their time in power.

Hollinrake said the Deputy Prime Minister must go after breaking 'the letter of the law' by underpaying tax duty by £40,000 and for how vocal she has been about tax avoidance by others.

Kate immediately interrupted to say former Tory MP Nadhim Zahawi had underpaid tax by £5million while he was chancellor.

On Wednesday, Rayner held her hands up to her mistake and has referred herself to the independent ethics commissioner who will determine whether the avoidance was an inadvertent mistake. However, Hollinrake believes it's too late as a tense clash erupted on GMB.

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"I think she should resign, I don't think her position is tenable," Hollinrake said this morning. "The situation is she's deputy prime minister, Housing Secretary and this is a matter that relates to housing. The information is readily available. If you look on the HMRC website it clearly sets out on the first page that trust count in terms of a primary home."

Hollinrake then continued to say that it had to be taken into account that both Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner have been "so outspoken in terms of tax avoidance".

Continuing, he said: "This goes beyond tax avoidance. Tax avoidance is the lawful mechanism to reduce tax, but this is not lawful," as he said he "doesn't see how she can just categorise this as an error."

Kate Garraway then stepped in and said the chairman had made a lot of accusations but said they were waiting for the independent inquiry. She then went on to mention former Tory MP Nadhim Zahawi who paid nearly £5m to authorities to settle his tax affairs.

She then questioned why Angela Rayner was being held to a different standard to which Hollinrake replied: "She's held herself to a different standard. If this had been a Conservative member today, she would be calling for their resignation."

Kate wasn't having any of it however, as she interrupted: "You're now calling for her resignation, you're saying that she's unlawful. Does that mean anybody in opposition who accuses anything of a government has to resign even if it turns out it's been proved that she's made a mistake? Which she's admitted and paying the money - you're now saying she should go automatically?"

Hollinrake then went on to claim that Angela had broken the “letter of the law” and the "spirit of the law” after taking a moral position in the past that tax avoidance was wrong.

However, Kate stepped in to reiterate once again that it hadn’t been proved that she was avoiding tax - and she could have had bad advice.

“And you’re somehow jumping the gun and saying she should go anyway?”

Kevin Hollinrake went on to say that Angela had admitted that she hadn't paid her tax - again saying it was "beyond avoidance".

He then claimed Rayner had taken the position "that if you're guilty of this stuff, you should resign."

Former Shadow Chancellor Ed then stepped in to fight back, claiming the the argument Hollinrake was trying to make was "rather unusual".

"Your criticism of her is that she has taken a moral position and therefore she should be judged morally. In the case of Priti Patel, there were allegations of bullying. This was referred to the independent advisor, Sir Alex Allen.

"He published a report which said her approach can be described as bullying in terms of the impact felt by individuals."

Ed then went on to say how former Prime Minister Boris Johnson went on to "ignore" Alex Allen, and Priti Patel kept her job.

"Are you really saying that Boris Johnson and Priti Patel acted in an amoral way?" Hollinrake claimed that wasn't the point he was making, as Ed continued: "You're saying Angela Rayner has to resign because she demanded people acted morally. Did Priti Patel stay in her job because she didn't act morally and that didn't matter?"

Hollinrake then claimed that if Rayner didn't resign, she is guilty of "gross hypocrisy".

"She's said to other people they should resign in these situations, and I would say this situation is worse to those situations in terms of tax avoidance. The reality with this of course, she's Deputy Prime Minister and she's Housing Secretary. These transgressions directly relate to her role. This is not difficult to see that she held a primary home, and any other home was subject to the higher rates of Stamp Duty. That is the point, she is guilty of gross hypocrisy," he claimed at the end of the interview.

Angela Rayner's future as Deputy Prime Minister will be decided in the coming days.

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