The Tory MP who reported Angela Rayner to the police amid an ongoing row over the sale of her council house refused to explain what alleged offences he thought she had committed.
James Daly, the Conservative Party deputy chairman, failed to answer the question three times during an awkward exchange on the BBC’s Daily Politics programme.
“Well, the Greater Manchester Police last week…announced that they were investigating various matters in relation to this and therefore I think it’s perfectly appropriate to allow that investigation to proceed,” he said.
Mr Daly, who represents the red wall seat of Bury North in Greater Manchester, contacted police to make them aware that neighbours of Ms Rayner had contradicted her account that a property, separate from her husband’s, was her main residency.
Greater Manchester Police later launched an investigation into whether Ms Rayner had broken electoral law, having initially said she had no case to answer, following questions about whether she paid the correct amount of tax when she sold the property before becoming an MP.
When presenter Jo Coburn pressed Mr Daly on what he had brought to light that might make a difference to the case, he said: “The situation is that information was provided to Greater Manchester Police, as per any other person making a complaint or a potential complaint.
“Greater Manchester Police have assessed that they are now carrying out an investigation and I think that we should allow them to carry out that investigation.”
When pushed for the third time, Mr Daly added: “My understanding is that the Greater Manchester Police, and they will correct me if I’m wrong, are looking at a number of offences here and will investigate fully and we should give them the time and the opportunity to do that.
It comes after The Sunday Times reported that a former aide to Ms Rayner said there was “no doubt in my mind that this was Ms Rayner’s family home” when he visited her at what she says was her husband’s address in 2014.
Police are investigating whether Labour’s deputy leader broke electoral law after Tory allegations that she may have given false information about her main residence a decade ago.
Ms Rayner has promised to resign if she is found to have committed a crime over the accusations but said she followed the rules at all times.
She was defended by her colleague Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, during an interview earlier on Sunday.
Ms Cooper told BBC One’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg that Ms Rayner is “very keen” to set out the facts to police and HMRC.
She said: “It allows her to set out all the facts – not the sort of gossip, not the different allegations that we’ve had from Conservative MPs.
“We understand this is the run-up to local elections, we have seen this before as we saw with the Durham case as well.
“This is obviously about her family arrangements, her personal finances, and that’s really how it should be dealt with instead.”
Ms Rayner has said she has done nothing wrong and vowed to fully cooperate with any authority looking into the matter.
