Jonathan Brash's Hypocrisy in the Shadow of Angela Rayner's Tax Scandal
- teessidetoday
- Sep 5, 2025
- 3 min read
How Hartlepool MP Jonathan Brash Has Played the Same Tax Games as Angela Rayner & has made a small fortune out of it...
5th Sep 2025
As Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner faces potential career-ending scrutiny over her underpayment of stamp duty on an £800,000 flat in Hove—admitting a "mistake" that could breach ministerial codes ending her parliamentary career as early as today—fellow Labour MP Jonathan Brash has remained conspicuously silent, opting instead to have a pop at his old foe Nigel Farage instead for claims he used a private company to pay less tax on his earnings gained from being a presenter on GB News.
An independent ethics report, expected imminently as of 5 September 2025, may force Rayners resignation if it uncovers deliberate evasion possibly signalling the beginning of the end of both Keir Starmer & his Labour Government. .
Yet, few people seem to be aware that Labour MP Mr Brash, who positions himself as a champion of working-class Hartlepool, has his own property dealings shrouded in tax-optimising manoeuvres. Through a business listed as Hargreaves Brash Properties Ltd—a company he co-owned with his wife until his resignation as a director of the business back in January 2025.
Mr Brash, has structured his real estate investments to minimise taxes in ways that echo's Rayner's alleged shortcuts, where through Brash's hypocrisy, he's criticised "millionaire politicians" whilst quietly amassing wealth through corporate tax perks that ordinary taxpayers can't access.
Background on Rayner's Controversy
Rayner's woes centre on underpaying SDLT, a one-time tax on property purchases, by claiming exemptions tied to care arrangements for her son—potentially saving thousands but risking accusations of impropriety.
Critics argue this smacks of exploiting rules to avoid fair contributions, eroding public trust in Labour's "integrity" pledges. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has repeatedly dodged questions on sacking her, only heightening the drama even further.
Brash's Parallel Tax Tactics
Brash's setup with Hargreaves Brash Properties Ltd, incorporated in 2022, reveals a rather savvy use of corporate structures to sidestep personal tax burdens, which in turn mirrors Rayner's alleged gaming of exemptions.
The company Hargreaves Brash Properties Ltd owns a bungalow in Spennymoor, mortgaged shortly after formation, and files as a micro-entity to keep details opaque.
By channeling property through a ltd company, Brash (and his wife a councillor for Hartlepool Borough Council) enjoys:
Dodging Higher Personal Taxes: Rental profits taxed at 19-25% corporation rates, not his 40-45% band—potentially halving his liability.
Exploiting Full Interest Relief: Deducting all mortgage costs, unlike individuals capped at 20% relief—a post-2017 loophole for the corporate-savvy.
Future-Proofing Wealth: Lower CGT on sales and IHT relief on shares, building a tax-efficient legacy.
This isn't accidental either; Brash resigned as director of the company he set up with his wife in January 2025 amid speculation over his tax affairs, in a bid to distance himself from the issue post-election. His parliamentary disclosures confirm over 15% shareholding, ensuring control without daily oversight.
Brash's Hypocrisy Exposed
Brash's silence on Rayner, but instead deflecting his criticism to Nigel Farage's tax affairs reeks of self-preservation. As a former teacher turned MP, he rails against elite privileges, yet his £1m+ property empire (per local reports) relies on the same tax-minimising "tricks" he ignores in his parliamentary colleagues.
Rayner more or less admitted that she underpaid SDLT; However Brash uses a Ltd company to underpay ongoing taxes legally but inequitably. Both erode the system: One via alleged error, the other via deliberate planning available only to those with savvy accountants. If Rayner must go for transparency failures, then why not Brash?
Labour's working-class rhetoric rings hollow when MPs like him hoard benefits whilst local families face rising bills & struggle to pay the taxes they're being demanded to pay.
Brash's deflection in the matter, attempting instead to fire off shots against Mr Farage could have the potential to backfire spectacularly, especially if those with a fine tooth-comb begin to look through Brash's past business dealings & start to put the pieces together as to just how much tax he's dodged using legal .... but clearly 'unethical' methods.
