Dan Jarvis has written a supportive foreword for a Fabian pamphlet backing a “one off” wealth tax aimed at the rich. The pamphlet attacks hedge funds for their high rates of return available only to rich investors. The left-wing authors have found a new pot of gold to replace the middle-class terrifying mansion tax – which was basically a tax on homeowners in the South East where family homes easily exceed £2 million. The Tories mail-shotted the hell out of the issue to homeowners in the general election…

The evil Fabians’ plan is to levy the one-off tax on those with assets over £10 million or who use “aggressive tax avoidance”. Those with over £20 million in assets will suffer an even bigger expropriation of their wealth. The authors of this plan think this will avoid losing votes as it will hit only the 0.1%. Only the likes of Guido apparently think the super-rich have suffered enough…

The problems with the idea – apart from the immorality of confiscating justly acquired wealth arbitrarily – are manifest and obvious. The type of people who use aggressive tax avoidance strategies (a) don’t admit they do, (b) won’t stay around to see themselves financially gouged. The idea that people who go to the trouble of parking their money offshore will have a change of heart is laughably naive. It will also hit entrepreneurs who build successful companies which bring jobs and taxes to Britain. Why would an entrepreneur choose to base herself in a country that punishes her success?

Why is Jarvis aligning himself with such a crazy, job-destroying, entrepreneur-deterring, unworkable left-wing policy? Could it be he wants to be able to defend himself with a policy shield in a leadership contest when the subject of his donations from hedge-fund tycoons comes up?