Sept. 3 (UPI) — British Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said Wednesday she mistakenly underpaid taxes on a home purchase by a mark of over a million dollars.

“I am committed to resolving this matter fully and providing the transparency that public service demands,” Rayner said in a press statement.

“It is for that reason I have today referred myself to the independent adviser on ministerial Standards, and will provide him with my fullest cooperation and access to all the information he requires.”

The independent adviser on ministerial standards is a nonpartisan position intended to advise the British prime minister in regard to the conduct expected of governmental ministers.

Raynor said she shorted the stamp duty on a property she purchased in May by around $1.08 million but alleged it was due to a misunderstanding.

According to Raynor, following her 2023 divorce, she maintained a residence with her ex to continue co-parenting their children, but that home was willed to one of their children, who due to having special needs, was named the eventual sole beneficiary of that house, which was placed in a trust for that child.

Raynor said some of the accrued interest on that home was transferred into the trust, and then sold her remaining stake in the residence.

She asserted that she still lives there, but bought another home in May, and used the lump sum received from selling the stake of her original home into the new property, in addition to using a mortgage to finance the rest of what was owed.

“When purchasing the property my understanding, on advice from lawyers, was that my circumstances meant I was liable for the standard rate of stamp duty,” Raynor said in her statement.

“However, given the recent allegations in the press I have subsequently sought further advice from a leading tax counsel to review that position and to ensure I am fully compliant with all tax provisions,” she continued.

Raynor further stated she has since been advised that “although I did not own any other property at the time of the purchase, the application of complex deeming provisions which relate to my son’s trust gives rise to additional stamp duty liabilities.”

“I acknowledge that due to my reliance on advice from lawyers which did not properly take account of these provisions, I did not pay the appropriate stamp duty at the time of the purchase,” she admitted. “I am working with expert lawyers and with [His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs] to resolve the matter and pay what is due.”

Prime Minister Keir Starmer appeared alongside fellow Labor Party member Raynor on Wednesday in Parliament and said he is “proud to sit alongside Rayner,” but political opponents from the Conservative Party have gone on the attack.

“It’s utterly extraordinary that while working families and businesses are being hammered by Labor’s tax hikes, Angela Rayner has failed to pay the right amount of stamp duty,” posted Member of Parliament, or MP Mel Stride to X Wednesday. “The Deputy Prime Minister should not be setting the rules when she fails to keep them herself.”

“The property tax-dodging free-loading Deputy Prime Minister has finally admitted breaking the law and evading paying taxes owed,” said MP Priti Patel in a social media post Wednesday. “She says that she’s sorry, but she’s only sorry that she was caught out.”

“If Keir Starmer had a backbone, he’d sack Angela Rayner immediately,” posted Conservative Party leader and MP Kemi Badenoch to X Wednesday. “She has to go.”