Reeves is said to be looking to plug her black hole with a mansion tax: a 1% annual levy on all properties worth over £2 million. She did say she was going after the wealthy…
This is a problem for a few members of the Cabinet but one of the worst hit would be Liz Kendall, who lives with her partner James Ind in a Victorian Notting Hill property bought three years ago for £3.9 million. Its value will no doubt have risen in line with London properties since then…
Reeves is unlikely to impose a mansion tax retroactively or this year due to issues with the valuation process, which means 2028/29 is the likeliest year of imposition. At its bought value Kendall’s home would incur an annual liability of £19,000…
The real liability is likely to be higher. Rest assured if the mansion tax doesn’t come in we have the Technology Secretary to thank…
Andy Haldane, Burnham’s recent adviser on the economy who has not taken up a No10 job, told Andrew Marr on LBC:
“The market now suspects that this is a traditional tax-and-spend socialist government with better TikTok videos…
imposing windfall taxes on oil & gas or on banks or upping capital gains tax would […] repeat the mistake that Rachel made […] The Achilles heel, the fiscal Achilles heel of this government thus far has been its unwillingness and/or inability to cut public spending.”