Starmer is still facing growing pressure from his party over welfare reforms, with the Labour left naturally demanding higher taxes instead of spending cuts. Leading the charge this morning was Diane Abbott calling for a wealth tax, insisting that a 2% levy on assets over £10 million “shouldn’t have some massive effect” on incentives. Abbott’s hardly renowned for her prowess in calculus…
Labour minister Emma Reynolds was on the Today Programme shortly after Abbott, saying that as “we’ve already increased taxes by quite a substantial amount”, Labour won’t impose a wealth tax – for now:
“We’re not going to come forward for the time being. I mean, I can’t come forward on future Budgets, of course, but for the time being we are not going to come forward with a wealth tax.”
Translation: the door is still wide open on a wealth tax. A wealth tax would be yet another broken promise by Reeves, who stated unequivocally that Labour had “no plans for a wealth tax” back in August 2023. Though she also said back then she’d find it hard to raise taxes at all, and co-conspirators saw how that turned out…
A reminder:
The Adam Smith Institute’s Director of Public Affairs Maxwell Marlow said:
“With more wealthy individuals fleeing the UK than ever before, the government cannot keep plucking the golden goose. Already, 60% of all income tax receipts come from the top 10% of earners, and this high tax burden is pushing the wealthy away – a wealth tax would be the final nail in the coffin.”
Labour pledged a wealth tax in its 1974 manifesto but abandoned plans. Reeves’ predecessor Dennis Healey noted:“We had committed ourselves to a wealth tax; but in five years I found it impossible to draft one which would yield enough revenue to be worth the administrative cost and the political hassle”. Britain’s top wealth creators will be keeping their passports ready…
Burnham confirms he spoke to Trump last night about drilling in the North Sea:
“I indicated in the phone call that we had a week last Monday that I would take a pragmatic approach when it comes to the North Sea, and that is my intention as we go forward from here. There is a resource there. When people are struggling, we can’t ignore that. Hence, me indicating that to the president…”